The War Continues
by Breakawayfan
Summary: When an old friend and his team arrive on Earth, Team Prime ends up getting all the backup it could ever need. But little do they know, the Decepticons have gotten some new players as well, so things will get very rowdy for both sides. Rated T for intense violence and a bit of romance. Beginning set between "The Human Factor" and "Legacy."
1. The Messages

**Chapter 1: The Messages**

It was just another day for Team Prime in Jasper, Nevada. Ratchet and Optimus were busy at the control monitors, keeping a watchful eye out for Energon signatures or Decepticon activity. Bulkhead and Arcee were out on patrol duty, which left Bumblebee and Smokescreen with the task of watching over their human companions, Jack, Miko and Rafael, or "Raf" to his friends. For the past half-hour, the two bots had been watching the kids have an all-out brawl in a multiplayer fighting game that Miko had bought from the game store the other day. Bumblebee was enjoying himself as Miko knocked Raf out of the ring, but Smokescreen was a little confused by the kids' game.

"So, is this all humans do in their spare time?" the rookie Autobot asked as Bumblebee looked over at him.

"**No, but this is one of their favorite pastimes,**" the yellow Autobot said in a series of beeps, "**Personally, I find some of their games rather fun.**"

"Hey, Miko, what's this game called again?" Smokescreen asked again as the Japanese girl looked up at him.

"_Super Smash Bros, Brawl_," the ecstatic girl replied, putting emphasis on "Brawl," "It's a game where they take a bunch of different characters from different games and put them together in an epic beat-down smash-ém-up fighting game." Miko's description of the game made Bumblebee think of something.

"**You know, the name 'Brawl' makes me remember a Decepticon I fought once back on Cybertron,**" Bumblebee beeped. As soon as the kids heard the word, "Cybertron," they immediately knew a cool war story was coming up, so they immediately paused their game and turned around to face Bumblebee. Smokescreen also turned in Bumblebee's direction.

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of Brawl," the rookie said, "They say that he's the loose cannon of his team."

"And he's more than earned that title," everyone heard Ratchet say. They all turned around to see the Autobot medic approach them, "Brawl is an extremely dangerous Decepticon who served as the muscle unit for the Combaticons, an elite team of some of the most proficient warriors in Megatron's army." This got the kids, especially Miko, greatly interested.

"So, what did Brawl look like?" Miko asked. Just then, they heard the sound of two Autobots transforming and looked over, seeing Arcee and Bulkhead come back from patrol. Apparently Bulkhead heard in on the kids' conversation with Ratchet.

"Brawl isn't hard to miss. He's big, green and rather impulsive. He turns into a tank and has a reputation of leaving a trail of destruction everywhere he goes," the Wrecker said with a chuckle, causing Arcee to drive her elbow into her teammate's side.

"The Combaticons are no laughing matter, Bulkhead, especially after what Brawl did to Bumblebee," the two-wheeler said sternly as she gave a concerned look to Bumblebee, who simply shrugged in response.

"**It wasn't that bad, Arcee,**" the scout replied, "**It was only a couple scratches and some dings.**" This drove Ratchet into a frenzy.

"Are you out of your mind?! You were extremely lucky that Ironhide showed up in time, or otherwise Brawl might've disemboweled you!" the medic shouted, remembering the broken body of Bumblebee lying on his medical berth back on Cybertron. The thought of seeing Bumblebee nearly torn limb from limb made Raf cringe, as the boy looked at his friend with fearful eyes. Just then, Smokescreen chose the wrong time to speak up.

"Well, at least he wasn't interrogated by Vortex," Smokescreen said, "I hear that guy was all about the torture." When fourteen pairs of eyes shot him a hard glare, the rookie realized his mistake. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" he asked sheepishly.

"Vortex is the baddest of the bad when it comes to interrogation," Bulkhead somberly muttered as everyone looked at him, "My pal Leadfoot still has the scars to prove it." Miko flinched at the thought of a Wrecker breaking under constant ruthless torture, especially one as tough as Bulkhead or Wheeljack.

"Regardless of past events, we can only hope that Megatron will not recruit anyone like the Combaticons anytime soon, given our current numbers and resources," the booming voice of Optimus Prime echoed as the Autobot leader stomped over to their group, "If the Combaticons or anyone of their like were to join Megatron's ranks, the result would be chaotic and disastrous."

…

On board the _Nemesis_, the Decepticon warship, two Vehicon drones picked up a transmission beacon on the ship's telescreens.

"Lord Megatron, there's a high-frequency transmission of Decepticon origin on our radar," one of the drones said as a colossal silver robot looked over in their direction, "Do we have permission to answer it?" Megatron pondered this over in his head. If it was truly a Decepticon on the radar, then his crew could certainly use a few additional hands, but then again, the Autobots were known to bait traps with fake Decepticon signals during the war.

"Proceed with caution," the Decepticon leader growled, "It may be a trap set by the Autobots." The drones bowed their heads before turning back to the screen.

"Decepticon caller, please identify yourself," the second drone said into the communications speaker.

"So this is how Lord Megatron welcomes back some old friends of his these days?" the caller replied back in a gruff voice that Megatron recognized anywhere.

"Onslaught?" the former gladiator asked as he approached the telescreen.

"It's been a long time, Lord Megatron," the leader of the Combaticons replied, "My team and I picked up Decepticon chatter about the big boss being on a blue planet in the Theta quadrant, so we decided to investigate for ourselves. We also found a few extra friends of ours along the way, so I hope you don't mind some extra company." Megatron smiled in delight when he heard that Onslaught brought the whole team and some others. Without a second thought, he turned to his communications chief, Soundwave.

"Soundwave, set coordinates for Onslaught and his team," Megatron barked as the silent Decepticon turned his monitor-like face into a map and began streaming Earth's galactic coordinates to Onslaught. After a few moments, Onslaught spoke up.

"We should be there in a few days, my liege," Onslaught said before hanging up. As the transmission beacon faded off the radar, Megatron's second-in-command, Dreadwing, stepped up to the bridge.

"Master, do you really believe it wise to welcome those renegades into our ranks?" the Seeker asked as Megatron glared in his direction.

"Of course, Dreadwing, for those _renegades_ are some of the most powerful Decepticons to ever take to the battlefield, and they are an asset I can't possibly afford to lose" Megatron replied.

"I only hope you know what you're doing, my liege," Dreadwing said before bowing and leaving the room.

…

Back in the Autobot base, the 'Bots finished their little conversation about the Combaticons with the kids, who had resumed their game, albeit remaining silent, as Ratchet's reaction to Bumblebee saying his injuries from Brawl were nothing still fresh on their minds. Ratchet was still monitoring energy scales when suddenly the radar started beeping. The medic took a closer look at the radar and realized that it had picked up an Autobot signal within the solar system.

"Optimus, I'm detecting an Autobot energy signature in Earth's solar system," Ratchet called as Optimus walked over to the screens. The Prime became suspicious when he saw the signature, as the last time an Autobot signal turned out to be a trick by the Decepticons. Reaching over to the control pad under the screens, Optimus pushed a button that sent a communication array to the signal.

"Autobot ship, verify identification," Optimus said into the speaker. What came next gave him the surprise of his life.

"Well, well, I thought I heard a message in deep space coming from this planet," said the voice in a hip-hop tone. Arcee and Optimus could both recognize that voice in a hundred worlds.

"Jazz?" Arcee asked, surprised.

"The one and only, baby," Jazz replied playfully, "I picked up a high-frequency message from Optimus Prime himself, so I figured I'd bring my team along with me to add to any numbers Prime had."

"Well, then you're in luck then, Jazz, and so are we," Ratchet said.

"Hey, hey Ratchet, glad to you're still kickin', Doc-Bot," Jazz quipped as Ratchet tensed with embarrassment.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" the medic frantically asked as the kids looked over and started laughing.

"Jazz, how soon can you get here?" Optimus asked into the speaker.

"By tomorrow, tops," the first lieutenant of the Autobots said.

"Good. We'll set landing coordinates for you. Safe travels, my friend," Optimus said as Jazz hung up. Smokescreen walked up to Optimus.

"Uh, sir, if I may ask, why were you so trusting of Jazz when you first got his message but thought I was a plant?" the rookie asked as Prime looked down at him.

"Understand this, Smokescreen," Optimus said as he placed a hand on Smokescreen's shoulder, "Jazz is one of the most trustworthy soldiers you will ever have the honor of meeting. I trusted his transmission because I knew it was him. When you arrived here, we assumed you were a Decepticon because of your method of arrival." Smokescreen nodded in understanding.

"I understand, sir," Smokescreen said as Optimus took his hand off his shoulder.

"Ratchet, set landing coordinates for Jazz and his team," Optimus said as Ratchet began punching down landing coordinates for Death Valley. Jack took notice of this.

"Why are the new bots landing in Death Valley?" the raven-haired teen asked.

"Because," replied Ratchet, "Death Valley is the most arid, inhospitable location on Earth. By landing there, Jazz and the others will be safe from both Decepticons and human eyes. We will also be Ground Bridging them here." Miko got excited when she heard that new Autobots were coming to Earth.

"So Team Prime is getting new players? Awesome! What's Jazz like?" she asked.

"For starters, Jazz is a very level-headed Bot who loves having fun and is known to treat missions like a game," Arcee explained, having seen Jazz in battle before, "He also lives by a motto: 'Either do it with style, or don't bother doing it.'"

"Sounds like my kind of 'Bot," Miko said with a grin.

…

A day later, the Autobots picked up the signal on their radar that Jazz's ship just entered the atmosphere and was heading for the coordinates in Death Valley that Ratchet provided. As the Autobots prepared to enter the Ground Bridge, Raf typed in the coordinates for the ship's landing course.

"Alright, guys, the Ground Bridge is set. Firing it up now," the young tech wiz said as the green portal opened.

"Thank you, Rafael," Optimus said with a nod, "Autobots, transform and roll out!" With that, the six robots transformed into their respective vehicle forms and sped through the Ground Bridge to the target coordinates. Upon exiting the portal, the Autobots came in front of a large white ship resting in the bottom of a ravine. The hull of the ship looked worn, and was covered in multiple scars, dings and burns, indicating it had seen several dogfights. As the six Autobots transformed into their robot modes, a hatch on the bottom of the ship opened up and revealed a ramp, with a white Autobot roughly the size of Bumblebee walking down it. Optimus recognized him instantly.

"Welcome to Earth, Jazz," the Prime said as he walked up to his friend and greeted him with a handshake.

"Nice to see some old friends again," Jazz replied as he looked at his commanding officer and most of Team Prime with a glint in his cerulean visor, which completely covered his eyes. Jazz then turned back to the ship. "Alright, guys, come on out," he called out. Soon, eleven Autobots marched out of the ship and stood at attention alongside Jazz. Everyone on Team Prime recognized almost each of these soldiers: Ironhide, Optimus Prime's closest friend and one of the strongest soldiers on Cybertron; Warpath, a boisterous young Autobot whose love of combat trumps even Megatron; Sideswipe, professional in every Cybertronian martial art and one of the top recruit trainers in the army; Perceptor, one of Cybertron's top scientists and chief inventor of some of the Autobots' most crucial devices and weapons; Bluestreak, top sniper in the entire Autobot army; Flareup, Autobot flame trooper who loved fire a little too much for her own good; Hound, Autobot tracker who more than lived up to his name; Air Raid, cocky Aerialbot who loved to fly more than any other flier; Fireflight, Air Raid's fellow Aeiralbot who sometimes acted too recklessly for her own safety; Jolt, Ratchet's old medical student who packed enough voltage to jump-start an Autobot as large as Omega Supreme; Hot Rod, ambitious young soldier who always wanted to fight on the frontlines; and Wheelie, the youngest Autobot to ever partake in the war, his age being an equivalent to thirteen human years. Optimus nodded at Jazz and placed his hands on his communications transmitter.

"Ratchet, Bridge us back to base," the Prime said, "We have located Jazz and his team." As soon as Optimus finished giving his command, a Ground Bridge appeared behind them.

"What's that thing?" Wheelie asked, as the youngling had never seen anything like it before in his life.

"**It's called a Ground Bridge,**" Bumblebee beeped back, "**It allows us to travel anywhere on the planet instantly.**"

"This is such an ingenious creation," Perceptor said as he approached the green vortex in front of him, but he vanished into it as soon as he walked into it, causing Wheelie to jump back in alarm. Smokescreen saw this and acted immediately.

"Easy there, kiddo," the rookie said reassuringly as he put a hand and Wheelie's shoulder to calm him down, "The Bridge didn't kill him, it just teleported him to our base." With that, Optimus and the other Autobots, minus Jazz's team, transformed and rolled through the portal, the others following them through it.

…

**A few quick things about the characters introduced in this story:**

**The designs for Jazz, Ironhide and Hound are based off some pictures of the same characters on Diovega's art gallery on **

**Sideswipe's design will be based on his movie look, with a silver body, wheels on his feet and blades coming out of his arms**

**The Combaticons are going to mostly be based off their **_**Fall of Cybertron**_** incarnations, with Brawl being the exception, him having his movie look to amplify his destructive nature**

**Warpath will be based on the design he had in the **_**Dark of the Moon**_** video game, where he is large, bulky, heavily armed and armored and slightly bigger than Optimus Prime**

**Wheelie's look will be like a modern version of his G1 body, but with a slight **_**Prime**_** look to it, and he also behaves like a human preteen**

**Jolt will have the ability to manipulate electromagnetism, albeit with little control over it**


	2. New Arrivals

**Chapter 2: New Arrivals**

Back in the base, Ratchet and the kids were eagerly waiting to see who Jazz brought with him to Earth. They were expecting Optimus Prime to be the first one through the Ground Bridge portal, but instead they saw a crimson robot with what appeared to be a scope on his shoulder stumble through it. The kids had no idea who this new arrival was, but Ratchet recognized him almost instantly.

"Perceptor?" Ratchet asked, surprised to finally see another scientist enter the facility.

"Ah, Ratchet. It's been a long time, old friend," the Autobot scientist replied as he looked over in Ratchet's direction, "Obviously this is my first time using this creation of genius. Did you make this yourself?" But instead of answering Perceptor's question, Ratchet fired his own.

"Where are Optimus and the others?" the medic asked.

"If my calculations are correct, they should be entering right about… now," Perceptor replied as a large semi-truck rolled through and transformed, revealing Optimus Prime himself. Behind him, two sport cars, a motorcycle and an all-terrain truck rolled into the base and transformed themselves, revealing Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Arcee and Bulkhead.

"So where are the others?" Miko asked, hoping that there would be more. Before anyone could answer, a lot of noise started to come from the Ground Bridge, revealing eleven other Autobots walking and pushing their way into the base. The sight of so many Autobots entering at once, not to mention the size of some of them, caused the kids' jaws to immediately drop. Perceptor caught notice of the three human children and walked over them, the lens on his scope rolling over his face like a magnifying lens.

"So these are some of the indigenous creatures on this planet?" the Autobot scientist asked as he leaned in to get a better look at the kids, causing Rafael to take a step back in anxiety. Jack looked over at Optimus with a nervous look on his face.

"Uh, Optimus, who is this guy?" the teenage boy asked.

"Jack, Miko, Rafael, meet Perceptor, chief scientist and engineer of the Autobots," Optimus replied as Perceptor leaned back up, the lens rolling off his face.

"These life-forms are very interesting," the scientist said as he took note of his observation, "Their anatomies are strikingly similar to our own, despite the fact that they're organics." Optimus continued to introduce the new team members as they tried to make for space.

"These are the rest of our new recruits," he said as he gestured to a large, red-orange robot with a cannon sticking out of his chest, "This is Warpath." Warpath strode over to Optimus' position to get a better look at the kids. At first, the kids were a little intimidated by his massive size, but after a moment, Miko got straight back up and looked at the tank-bot with a wide grin.

"So what's your story, Warpath?" the Japanese exchange student asked excitedly, "What's your weapon of choice? Who's your arch-rival? How many 'Cons have you destroyed with that cannon? What's your vehicle mode? I bet you're a tank. A huge tank!" Warpath was a bit stunned at how fast the human was talking, but he managed to regain himself.

"Whoa, slow down there, kid. The way you're talking, it (Swoosh!) reminds me of Blurr," the Defender said. Optimus then gestured over to another robot with red armor and two smaller cannons mounted on his arms.

"This is my weapon specialist and an old friend of mine, Ironhide," Optimus said as Ironhide examined the humans closely.

"So these are the life-forms you're protecting? They don't look like much," Ironhide said as he looked over at Optimus.

"That may seem so at a first glance, old friend, but these humans are as strong as any one of us, if not in body, then in spirit," Optimus replied as he gestured toward Miko, "Miko possesses enough courage to rival Grimlock himself."

"I even killed an Insecticon by myself," Miko said as she smacked her palm with her fist, causing Ironhide to grin. Ratchet walked over to the two.

"And despite his young age, Rafael possesses incredible intellect. I can't even begin to tell you how many times he's helped us on missions," the medic said as he pointed over to the spiky-haired boy.

"And Jack demonstrates the skills of a true leader. When I lost my memories, he braved the dangers of Cybertron to restore the wisdom of the Primes into the Matrix of Leadership," Optimus said as he placed a fingertip on Jack's shoulder. Ironhide was very impressed by this.

"That took guts, kid," the weapons specialist said as Optimus brought over a silver mech with wheels on his feet.

"This is Sideswipe, one of the top trainers of new recruits," Optimus said as Sideswipe looked around the base.

"Nice place," Sideswipe said, "Did you guys make this base yourselves?"

"No, Sideswipe," Optimus replied, "This missile silo was granted to us to use by the human government." After a while, Optimus was able to finish introducing the new recruits to the kids, who were all impressed by their capabilities, Miko especially. As the new Autobots were getting settled in, Jazz looked over at Optimus, who was working on decrypting more Iacon databanks.

"So when do we start blasting some Decepticons straight back to Cybertron?" the white mech asked eagerly, prompting Optimus to turn around and face him.

"I'm afraid that we cannot attack Megatron right now, Jazz," Optimus replied, "The Decepticons have us vastly outnumbered, so taking them on now, even with our sudden increase in numbers, would be a suicide mission. Furthermore, we exist on this world as 'Robots in Disguise.' You and the others must find appropriate vehicle forms on this planet, as its indigenous species is not completely ready to see our true forms." This gave Jazz an idea.

"Good thinking, Optimus," Jazz said before looking over at Rafael, who was busy on his computer. Seeing an opportunity to learn about the planet more, Jazz walked over to the boy. "Hey, Raf, mind if I see what you're doing for a moment? I thought I could use a little more information about this rock before I find a vehicle mode," he asked as Raf looked up at him.

"Uh, sure, I guess," the shy preteen said as he scooted closer to Jazz, showing him a mountain surrounded by forests, "This is in a place on this continent called Yosemite National Park, a spot of land reserved for keeping a natural setting. I've always wanted to go there." Jazz, who had taken a keen interest in the place Raf was looking at, placed a hand on his chin as he leaned in to get a better look at the picture. Arcee and Jolt were standing to the side, watching the whole thing.

"Wow, I never took someone like Jazz to be the 'scholar' type," Arcee said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, he always took a keen interest in studying different geographies and cultures of all the other planets we visited," Jolt replied. As the two continued to chat, everyone suddenly heard a very loud "OH YEAH!" coming from the area Raf and Jazz were in. They all looked over, and saw Warpath watching Jack and Miko play a warfare game, with Miko just finishing another kill score over Jack… and Warpath obviously enjoyed it. Ironhide shot a glare at the Defender, obviously annoyed more than the others.

"Hey Warpath, can you do us all a favor and keep the volume down a bit?!" the veteran warrior snapped, causing Warpath to chuckle in embarrassment. After everything settled down, Jazz went back to chatting with Raf over a vehicle mode. After a few minutes of scrolling through countless pictures of sports cars, Jazz finally came to a stop at the one he wanted: a Pontiac Solstice.

_That'll do_, Jazz thought before looking at Raf, "Hey, kid, mind if I take the computer to Ratchet so I can get this vehicle form?" Confused by what he meant, Raf slowly placed the computer in Jazz's hand, who in turn took it over to Ratchet. "Hey Doc, can you help me scan this car?" he asked. Rafael, who was still confused by how Jazz planned on scanning a vehicle if it wasn't next to him, watched as Ratchet connected some sort of cable to Jazz's head and the computer. In a matter of moments, the image of the Pontiac became embedded in Jazz's processor. After disconnecting the cable from his head, Jazz waited a few moments, and began to transform. Before Raf knew it, he was looking at a white Pontiac Solstice where a giant robot used to be. Jack and Miko saw the whole thing as well.

"Whoa, I didn't know you guys could take on vehicle modes like that!" Miko exclaimed while Jazz transformed back into his robot mode. Jack was just speechless at what he had just seen.

"How else do you think we got our vehicle modes on Cybertron?" Jazz chuckled as he gave the computer back to Raf. Raf was so amazed by what just happened that he looked over to the other Autobots with a wide grin on his face.

"Anyone else want a try at this?" Raf excitedly asked, which prompted Air Raid to raise his hand first. After shifting through different aircraft, the Aerialbot came to a stop on the aircraft he wanted: an F-14 Tomcat. After Ratchet helped Air Raid get his new wings, Fireflight went next, scanning the form of an A-10 Thunderbolt. One by one, the new Autobots took their new wheels: Ironhide scanned a GMC Topkick, Warpath scanned a Challenger 2 tank, Sideswipe scanned a Corvette Stingray, Jolt a Chevy Volt, Perceptor a Jeep Commander, Hound a Jeep Wrangler, Bluestreak a Nissan 350Z, Hot Rod a 1976 Chevy Camaro, Flareup an Agusta F4 750 motorcycle, and Wheelie a Smart Car. Once everyone finished getting their new vehicle forms, Optimus spoke up so all the new Autobots could hear him.

"Autobots, now that you have obtained the forms of this planet's vehicles, it is time that you started to learn the customs of this planet as well. Therefore, I will assign you a partner whenever we roll out," the Prime said instructively, each of the new recruits nodding in response. But before Optimus could tell his new recruits who their "driving coaches' would be, an audio call appeared on one of the screens. Ratchet hit the answer button, and the following shout nearly gave the poor bot a Spark failure.

"PRIME!" the voice cried angrily, "Can you possibly explain why I just received a call from NASA saying that an unidentified craft landed in Death Valley no less than twelve hours ago?!"

"Agent Fowler," Optimus calmly replied, "the ship that landed in that area is specifically out of sight of humans, so no one else besides your air and space team saw it entering the atmosphere. Furthermore, we chose Death Valley because it is out of sight of human eyes, that way it could remain hidden until we found a safer location to harbor it." The next sound everyone heard was Fowler groaning in frustration.

"Fine, just be sure to ask my permission before you have some more of your 'space buddies' enter our atmosphere next time," Fowler replied before hanging up. After the communication signal was terminated, Ironhide walked up to Optimus.

"What was that all about?" the weapons specialist asked.

"Agent Fowler acts as our liaison between the human government and the Autobots," Optimus replied, "Sometimes though, he can feel a little protective of his home planet, as he should be." Ironhide nodded and walked away, while Optimus resumed his code decrypting.

…

Two days later, on the landing strip on the _Nemesis_, Megatron, Dreadwing and Soundwave were waiting, the former rather impatiently, for their own new arrivals. Dreadwing was with him because it was part of the duty of the first lieutenant to welcome new recruits into the Decepticon fold, and Soundwave was simply there to provide coordinates for Onslaught and his team. All their waiting, however, finally paid off when Soundwave detected a ship flying in their area, and soon enough, they saw a medium-sized space freighter land in front of them. Megatron approached the ship as a ramp opened up from below it, revealing a bluish-green robot that a rocket launcher on his back and a body that was roughly the size of Optimus Prime. Megatron chuckled lightly to himself, as he knew this robot all too well.

"Onslaught," Megatron exclaimed as Dreadwing and Soundwave walked up behind him, "It's been quite some time since we last met."

"Indeed it has, Lord Megatron," Onslaught replied as he bowed on one knee. The leader of the Combaticons then turned and entered his ship. A few moments later, he came back out with eight other Decepticons behind him. Four of them were the rest of his team, Brawl, Swindle, Vortex and Blast Off; the others were the twin Seekers Sunstorm and Jetstorm, Blitzwing and Barricade. Megatron placed a hand on Onslaught's shoulder.

"You never cease to impress me, Onslaught. Not only have you brought me the Combaticons, but also some of my other strongest warriors," the Decepticon leader said, beaming widely. Then Megatron turned and looked at Soundwave. "Soundwave, take my new recruits to the bridge and find them suitable vehicle forms," Megatron ordered. Soundwave nodded in response and walked toward the door leading to the ship's interior, the nine new Decepticons following him inside. Once they reached the bridge, Soundwave attached one of his tentacles to the mainframe and the other onto Onslaught's torso. The communication chief's monitor-like face then turned on and began scanning the internet for a vehicle that was an equivalent to the Combaticon leader's alternate form on Cybertron. After five minutes of scrolling through images, Soundwave came to a stop at a vehicle that resembled Onslaught's Cybertronian chassis: a HEMTT Wrecker M984. Then the data for the vehicle streamed from the mainframe, through Soundwave himself, and into Onslaught, whose body began shifting and changing to take on the new vehicle. After the data was finished streaming, Soundwave disconnected the tentacle from Onslaught and took a step back as the Combaticon leader transformed to see if his new vehicle form fit his size. After transforming back, Onslaught nodded at Soundwave.

"This'll do just fine, Soundwave," he said before stepping aside so the other Decepticons could take their turn at getting a new vehicle. Brawl went up next, and Soundwave repeated the same process on him, but since Brawl was a tank, Soundwave had to change his search for a suitable tank form. After searching a vast display of tank models, he came to a stop on one in particular: an M1 Abrams with a set of plow-blades on the front to protect it from IED explosions and landmines. Brawl saw the model on Soundwave's visor and started nodding and pointing rapidly. Soundwave nodded and started streaming the tank's information into Brawl's chassis and memory chamber. After that was finished Brawl stepped aside for the rest of the Decepticons. It took Soundwave at least an hour to give the new recruits their vehicle forms, Blitzwing being the most difficult since he was a triple-changer, or Transformer that can take on two vehicle forms instead of one. Swindle took the form of a Humvee Tow, Blast Off an EA-6B Prowler, Vortex a UH-60 Black Hawk, Barricade a Saleen S281 police car, Sunstorm and Jetstorm each an Su-47 Berkut, and Blitzwing a T-80 tank for ground travel and an MiG-25 fighter jet for flight. Once the scanning was complete, Megatron, accompanied by Dreadwing and his medic Knock Out, approached the new recruits, who all got down on one knee in respect.

"Decepticons, the war with the Autobots on this world has been an unacceptable stalemate," Megatron said as he scowled over the memories of his constant failures, "But with your added power and dedication, I do believe that we can finally turn the tide of this conflict and bring Optimus Prime to his knees." With that, the new Decepticons rose and stood at attention, awaiting Megatron's orders, while Soundwave went back to decoding the next Iacon relic.

"What do you intend we do first, my liege?" Onslaught asked.

"I am planning on setting up a decoy for the Autobots to follow while we pursue the real relic," Megatron said as he held up what appeared to be some kind of beacon and showed it to Onslaught, who was most impressed by his master's trap.

"If I may make a suggestion, Lord Megatron," Onslaught said as Megatron put up the false relic, "My team has gone on for too long without a decent fight, and I'm sure you remember how crazed Brawl can get if he doesn't attack or destroy something for an extended time." Megatron got where the leader of the Combaticons was going with this.

"Ah, you wish to give the Autobots a little surprise, don't you?" Megatron asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Affirmative, master," Onslaught replied, "and I hope you haven't forgotten what else my team is capable of."

"Oh, believe me, I haven't," Megatron said back, "Very well, Onslaught. You have my permission to engage the Autobots, but only this once." Onslaught bowed with gratitude.

"You are a gracious audience, Lord Megatron," the Combaticon replied before turning back to his teammates to tell them his plan. All the while, Megatron chuckled to himself as he watched.

_This will certainly turn the tide_, Megatron thought as he walked out of the bridge.

**So next chapter, the new Autobots will begin to receive road training from Team Prime and their human allies, but the Combaticons will have a little surprise for them along the way. Also later on, you'll find out why I made Sunstorm and Jetstorm twins and the latter a Decepticon.**


	3. Onslaught of the Combaticons

**Chapter 3: "Onslaught" of the Combaticons**

Later that day, Optimus Prime and Bulkhead, along with Miko, were taking Jazz, Hound, Bluestreak, Wheelie and Ironhide out on a road training course so the new recruits could drive in a civilian environment without making a scene. As the seven Autobots pulled up to a red light, Optimus decided to review what they have gone through with the new Autobots.

"Jazz, report and review," the Prime called out.

"Always stay on the right side of the road, never go through one of those red lights, never go over the solid white lines, etc.," Jazz replied.

"Good. Autobots, return to base," Optimus replied. As the Autobots turned around and began to make their way back to Jasper, they had no idea that someone was watching their every move. Soundwave's surveillance drone, Laserbeak, was flying high above the Autobots, spying on their actions and sending the footage to Soundwave himself. As Soundwave received the footage from Laserbeak, he turned to the Combaticons, who were eagerly awaiting their opportunity to attack Optimus Prime head-on. Eventually, Soundwave managed to get the coordinates for Optimus Prime's location and opened a Ground Bridge. The Combaticons readied their weapons and prepared for combat.

"Alright boys, let's do this," Onslaught said as the five Decepticons walked through the portal.

…

As Optimus and the other Autobots continued driving down the road, Ironhide began to feel like something was watching them.

"Hey, Optimus," the veteran soldier began before something interrupted him. That something was Optimus swerving off the road as a Ground Bridge opened up in front of them, the other Autobots doing the same. As soon as all the Autobots were off the road, five large and tough-looking robots burst out of the Ground Bridge and began to attack them. Optimus' eyes widened in fear and alarm, for he knew these robots all too well.

"The Combaticons," he said in a half-whisper before turning around to Bulkhead, "Bulkhead, take Miko and get her as far away from this place as you can, now!" Without a second's warning, Miko found her seatbelt tightening around her waist as Bulkhead sped away from the battlefield, watching everything in his rear view mirrors.

"What gives, Bulk?" Miko asked, "You never run from a fight."

"I know, Miko," Bulkhead replied, "but Optimus is extremely concerned for your safety, especially since those five 'Cons attacking us are the Combaticons!" Miko's eyes suddenly widened.

"Those are the Combaticons?!" the Japanese girl asked with a twinge of fear in her voice. She still remembered the conversation that she and the others had with the Autobots about the Combaticons, and the way Ratchet snapped at Bumblebee was still burned into her memory. If anything could scare Ratchet, then she knew it had to be bad. Eventually, Bulkhead found a good place to drop off Miko, which was at a small rock formation a kilometer away from the battlefield, before turning around and driving back to the battle. But if anyone knew Miko well, they would know that she wouldn't stay down for very long, and soon, she began following Bulkhead's tire trail back to the battle.

…

Back at the battle against the Combaticons, the seven Autobots were having a very difficult time trying to hold them off. Every time one of the elite soldiers was shot at, another one got in front to cover him until he recovered. After Vortex managed to get a good shot at Wheelie, who was busy clobbering Swindle, Sideswipe tackled the Decepticon interrogator and began to pound on him until Brawl threw Hound into him, sending both Autobots flying. Little did the Autobots or the Combaticons know, however, but Miko, who had followed Bulkhead's tracks back to the battle, was hiding behind a large rock formation and taking pictures of the battle.

"Wow, I've never seen a bunch of Decepticons so tough before," she said to herself as she took another picture of Blast Off clashing with Bluestreak. After a few minutes of fighting, Onslaught called over his teammates to him.

"It's time we show the Autobots what we're really made of boys," he said, "Combaticons, combine into Bruticus!" Before the Autobots' eyes, the five robots began changing into something that was very different from their vehicle forms. In her hiding place, Miko saw what was going on and hit the video record button on her phone. She'd seen plenty of 'Con action before, but nothing could've prepared her for what was taking place right before her eyes. Brawl and Swindle shifted their bodies and transformed into what appeared to be a pair of large, metallic legs, Onslaught twisted his entire body to become what looked like a torso, and Vortex and Blast Off changed into a giant pair off arms. All five parts merged together, and resulting juggernaut standing before them was more than enough to strike fear into both the Autobots and Miko. Bruticus was ready to rampage. Deciding that she got enough pictures and a video, Miko put up her phone and made a run back for the spot Bulkhead left her at.

"Bruticus online" the giant rumbled, "Ready for action!" Hound dove behind a boulder and began to focus a beam from his wrist onto Bruticus' body. Pointing it directly at the center of his torso, Hound readied the rocket mounted on his shoulder and fired, hitting Bruticus square on the chest.

"Nice shot, Hound," Optimus complimented as Hound ran over to his teammates.

"Don't get too comfy yet, Optimus," Jazz said as he pointed at the smoke cloud left by the rocket faded, revealing Bruticus to be completely unscathed.

"What?" a shocked Hound asked, "Nothing could've survived that shot!" Bruticus then started laughing as he drew out a large rifle from his back compartment.

"Let's see if you can survive a shot like this, Auto-bugs," the giant taunted as he took aim.

"Autobots spread out!' Optimus ordered as Bruticus fired the gun. While the main shot missed, the shockwave created from the shot's impact on the ground spread out as quickly as the shot itself, sending the seven Autobots flying in different directions. As Sideswipe and Bulkhead struggled to get back on their feet, Bruticus stomped over and raised his foot, ready to stomp the two Autobots into the ground.

"I love the sound of Autobots crunching under my feet," Bruticus said as he prepared to stomp his foot down. Before the giant could do so, a shot came out of nowhere and hit Bruticus in the head, causing him to stumble around in a daze and giving Sideswipe and Bulkhead enough time to get up and move aside. Sideswipe looked over and noticed Wheelie with an Energon Battle Pistol, a mid-range weapon that could smelt through armor and had a 5x scope lens.

"Hey kid, where'd you get that gun?" Sideswipe asked, curious to know how a youngling was able to get his hands on a weapon like the one Wheelie was using.

"I stole it from a Decepticon weapon cache back on Cybertron," Wheelie replied.

"Focus on the task at hand, Autobots," Optimus called out as Bruticus regained his senses and reaffirmed his footing. The giant then kneeled down and arched his back upward.

"Try this on for size!" he cried as he fired numerous rockets into air. Ironhide knew what was happening.

"Shoot down those rockets!" the veteran soldier called out as he began firing madly at the incoming missiles, the other Autobots doing the same. Most of the rockets were hit, but a few made it through the barrage and slammed down around the Autobots, causing smoke and debris to flay in the air.

…

Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet and the kids were all waiting around the consoles, waiting for Optimus to call in a Ground Bridge so that his team could come back to base and Arcee and Bumblebee's team could go out for their own test drive. After an hour of waiting, a call suddenly appeared on the screen. Ratchet hurried over to the console and pressed the answer button, only to get an angry shout ringing through his audio receptors.

"Ratchet, would you like to explain to me why I'm receiving a report of Prime and some of his bots mixing it up 50 miles outside of Jasper?!" a very angry Agent Fowler inquired into the microphone.

"Agent Fowler, I really don't think any Decepticon would be foolish enough to take on Optimus head-on," Ratchet replied, "Not without a supremely powerful weapon."

"Then I guess you've never seen this 'Con before, Doc, 'cause he's doing a pretty good job mashing him up," Fowler said as he pulled up the footage from his jet. What Ratchet saw on the monitor caused his eyes to widen and his jaw to drop: Bruticus engaging in a one-sided battle against Optimus and his teammates.

"By the AllSpark," the medic terrifyingly whispered before turning around, "Arcee, get the others ready and prepare to Bridge out now!" Arcee nodded and sprinted out of the room as fast as she could. "Don't worry, old friend. Help is coming," Ratchet muttered as he continued watching the battle.

…

Arcee ran down the hall to the training room, where Bumblebee and Smokescreen were engaging the rest of the new recruits in combat practice. She arrived just in time to see Jolt lash one of his electro-whips into Air Raid, sending a surge of electricity through the Aerialbot and leaving him stunned.

"**Nice shot, Jolt,"** Bumblebee blipped as Jolt helped Air Raid back on his feet. Just as the two stood apart and prepared to go for another round, Arcee entered the room.

"Guys, Optimus is in serious trouble. He and the others are under attack by the Decepticons," the two-wheeler said as everyone turned in her direction. Flareup opened up her wrists and revealed a set of weapons that had small candle-like flames on the ends.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's bust some heads!" she excitedly said as the others readied their own weapons and walked out to the main room, where Ratchet was waiting with an open Ground Bridge.

"Comin' with us, Doc?" Hot Rod asked," Optimus might be in need of a medic after this." Ratchet pondered over the rookie's question before looking back up at him.

"I suppose you're right," Ratchet replied as he turned to the kids, "Rafael, man the Ground Bridge until we return." With that, Ratchet and the other Autobots walked over toward the green vortex in front of them. "Roll out!" On command, the Autobots all transformed into their vehicle forms and sped through the portal.

…

Back at the battle, chaos was raining down on Optimus and the others, as Bruticus was able to counter assault after assault as well as return the attacks tenfold. As the explosions rose up, Miko could see and hear the chaotic clash from her "safe spot" a kilometer away. Deciding that she had enough of seeing the Bots get the scrap beaten out of them, the Japanese girl took out her cell phone and called the base.

"Ratchet, you there?" Miko asked.

"_Ratchet and the others were just Bridged over to Optimus' location,_" Rafael answered, causing Miko to widen her eyes in surprise, "_If you need a Ground Bridge back, I can open one for you._" Miko nodded in response.

"Open up the door, Raf," she replied. A few moments later, a Ground Bridge opened up behind her, through which Miko ran through back to the base. Once she ran through the portal and reappeared in the base, Jack and Raf ran down the stairs to hear what she had to tell them about the battle.

"What happened out there?" Jack asked as Miko drew out her phone.

"I think you guys should see for yourselves," Miko replied as she brought up the video of the Combaticons merging into Bruticus. Jack and Raf watched the video with wide eyes and slacked jaws, as they had never seen any Transformer capable of doing anything like that.

"I'm guessing those are the guys who nearly killed Bee?" Raf timidly asked.

"Yeah, and now they're kicking the scrap out of Optimus and Bulkhead," Miko replied.

…

Bruticus was not holding anything back, not even when reinforcements arrived. To the titanic Decepticon, there were just more bugs for him to squash.

"Waste ém all!" he shouted to himself as he slammed his fist into the ground, narrowly missing Jazz and Warpath. As Bruticus was raising his fist out from the ground, he felt someone firing at his back. He slowly turned around and saw Air Raid and Fireflight flying circles around him, each one releasing a hail of gunfire from their jet form's weaponry. Deciding to try and even the odds, Bruticus raised his right arm and morphed it into a giant flamethrower, releasing a jet of scorching fire upon the Aerialbots, causing them to scatter to avoid the flames. As he was doing this, he suddenly felt a searing pain in his left leg. He looked down, and saw Flareup using her own flamethrowers against him. As soon as she saw fire on the battlefield, the pyro inside her just couldn't be restrained any longer. She _needed_ to burn something.

"This is almost as fun as facing you as your separated units," Flareup cackled as she continued burning away at Bruticus' leg. Rage began to flow through the giant's mind as he began to spin the helicopter blades on his arm like a saw.

"Nobody does that to me!" Bruticus cried as he swung the spinning blades at Flareup, hitting her hard and sending her soaring into Optimus and Ratchet. Arcee looked on in horror as she saw the damage done to her fellow two-wheeler. She had a huge gash running across her torso, which was leaking bad amounts of Energon, her left arm was nearly sliced off, and her legs were crumpled from the knees down. Ratchet saw the horrific damage as well and raised his finger to his com-link.

"Rafael, prepare a Ground Bridge. We have an Autobot down," the Medic called into the communicator as a portal appeared behind him, "Perceptor, come with me. I'll need your help examining her wounds." Perceptor nodded as Ratchet gently picked up the wounded femme and they ran through the Ground Bridge to the base. Optimus looked over from his attack to what had just happened, rage coursing through him like the very Energon that powered his body.

"Autobots, destroy Bruticus!" the Prime called out as he angrily fired at the torso unit. Jolt ran over to Optimus' side.

"Prime, I have an idea," the medical assistant said as he launched one of his electro-whips, the barbed tip latching on the very center of the torso's back, and released a surge containing enough electricity to cause an entire city block to black out through it. The onslaught of electricity began to interfere with the titan's systems, and Bruticus soon succumbed to the attack, his body splitting back into the five Combaticons. As soon as Onslaught started to get back up, Jolt held his hands out in front of him, magnetic energy surrounding them like a veil. Jolt raised them up, and soon the Combaticons were levitated into the air and thrown across the battlefield, the five Decepticons landing on top of each other in a heap. Onslaught managed to push the others off him and got back up.

"Soundwave, we need a Ground Bridge," the Combaticon leader ordered. Instantly another green vortex opened up behind him. The Combaticons an through the portal as quick as their legs could carry them, the Ground Bridge closing as soon as the last Combaticon ran through it. When the portal closed, Optimus withdrew his weapons and patched in his com-link.

"Perceptor, bridge us back to base," the Prime commanded solemnly.

"_Yes, of course, Optimus,_" the scientist replied. A moment later, a Ground Bridge opened up in front of the Autobots, who steadily walked through it and reappeared at the base. Upon walking inside, the Autobots looked upon a grim scene: Ratchet and Perceptor rapidly rushing between the berth that a mangled Flareup was lying on, her body attached to an Energon tank, and the kids, Agent Fowler, and surprisingly June, standing by and helplessly watching as the two could do everything they could to keep their comrade functional.

"Jolt, get over here now! I need your skills with electromagnetism to help keep Flareup's body together!" Ratchet frantically called as Jolt rushed over and placed his hands over Flareup's torso, electric and magnetic energy surging from them into her systems. As he did so, her system readings began showing signs of slight activity. June's eyes began tearing up, prompting the nurse to turn away. Jack turned to face his mother.

"Are you alright, Mom?" Jack asked as he placed a hand on his mother's shoulder, June gently holding it in response.

"Yeah, it just that seeing this reminds me of one of those times where the victim is in a serious condition like this and the only thing we can do is do everything we can to keep them alive for as long as possible," June replied, her voice sounding like she was about to cry. Optimus silently approached the two.

"Do not grieve over the injuries Flareup sustained in battle today, June," Optimus said as Jack and his mom looked up at him, "While Ratchet is busy fixing the wound on her torso, Jolt's ability to command electromagnetism will allow him to mend and repair the metal in her limbs and body. She will recover in due time." Bulkhead walked up next to Optimus.

"Yeah, the sooner the better, especially sooner because Wreckers do _not_ like sitting out on the action," the large green Autobot stated, remembering how crazed a Wrecker could become if they weren't called out for a battle over an extended time, and how desperate _he_ was to get back on the battlefield when he was bedridden after a near-fatal encounter with an Insecticon named Hardshell. Smokescreen walked over to Jolt to see how his work on repairing Flareup's body was going.

"How's she holding up?" the rookie asked as Jolt looked over at him.

"With the pace I'm working at, her limbs should make an overnight recovery," Jolt replied, "But I can't really say anything about her more severe injuries just yet. We'll have to let Ratchet worry about that." Smokescreen then looked down at Flareup, whose left arm Jolt had just finished repairing, knelt down next to her, and gently took her undamaged hand in his own.

"You're a Wrecker, Flareup," Smokescreen whispered, "You can tough this out." Jolt heard this and looked over, but before he said anything to make fun of him, he noticed that Flareup was giving a slight reaction. The medical assistant could've sworn that the corners of Flareup's lips were twitching.

"Hey, uh, Smokescreen, Why don't you go over and see if any of the others want to help you in combat practice?" Jolt nervously asked as Smokescreen looked up at him.

"Sure, I guess," Smokescreen replied. Before he went over to the other Autobots, he gave one last look to Flareup and then approached Sideswipe. "Hey Sideswipe, I hear that you were a pretty good martial artist during the War for Cybertron. Do you think you could teach me a few moves?" the rookie asked as the silver Autobot turned around.

"You heard right," Sideswipe replied, "I was trained by Prowl himself." Smokescreen's optics widened.

"Prowl, as in _**the**_ Sensei Prowl?" Smokescreen asked excitedly, "Now I really want to learn some new moves." Sideswipe laughed in response.

"Slow down there, kid," he said as he began to roll away, "Follow me, I'll show you the basics." After the two Autobots rolled away, June looked over at Optimus.

"What exactly happened to Flareup?" the nurse asked.

"She sustained critical damage during our ambushed assault by the Combaticons," Ratchet replied, "When they merged into Bruticus, their combined form, Flareup tried a direct attack against the titan, only to enrage him and cause him to viciously attack her. His rotor-blade shield, which is from the component named 'Vortex,' slammed into her with enough force to crush an Autobot, and the spinning blades severely mangled her body. Quite frankly, I'm amazed that she survived the blow." June widened her eyes in horror at the brutal description of Bruticus' attack. If a person was hit by that attack, they'd have been turned into human sushi.

"What exactly does Bruticus look like?" June asked again. Miko walked up to her and held up her phone.

"I think you should see for yourself," she replied as she opened the video file on the phone. When June saw the video of the Combaticons merging into Bruticus, she was stunned silent. If the Decepticons had power like this, then they'd be virtually unstoppable.

"How are we going to be able to counter something like that?" Jack asked.

"Fortunately, we have a weapon that can counter the titan," Arcee replied, "And he's over there healing Flareup." Everyone looked over at where she was pointing, and saw that she was pointing at Jolt, who was now working on Flareup's nearly-severed left arm.

"How is Jolt our secret weapon against the Combaticons?" Ratchet asked skeptically.

"Simple," Hound replied, "Like Optimus said himself, the kid can control electromagnetism. I saw what he did to Bruticus in that battle. All Jolt had to do was hook one of his whips onto Bruticus' back and surge enough wattage through him to drop a battleship."

"So, Jolt's like Cole McGrath?" Miko asked as Hound looked down at her.

"Who's Cole McGrath?" Hound asked, obviously confused.

"He's the star character of a series of video games called inFamous," Rafael replied, "Some radioactive device exploded in his face and gave him weird electric powers. He can also control magnetic fields." Hound only raised an eyebrow, still confused. Bulkhead walked over and whispered something inaudible into the Autobot's audio receptors. A moment later, Hound looked away from Bulkhead and back down at the kids.

"Bulkhead just told me about these 'video games' as you humans call them," Hound said, "Can you show me what they are?" Miko's eyes suddenly began to gleam.

"No problemo, Hound," Miko said beaming, "School is in session." As Hound and the kids walked over to the TV, everyone heard Ratchet give out a groan of annoyance. June looked over at Optimus and Ironhide, who were busy having a conversation with Jazz and Bulkhead.

"You know, when Jack called me earlier and said that Optimus was getting some new recruits, I wasn't expecting him to get an entire army in here," the nurse said as Ironhide and Bulkhead looked in her direction.

"I was honestly expecting him to have a smaller base, given his numbers before Jazz and myself brought the others here," Ironhide replied with a chuckle.

"I see now that extreme precautions are to be taken," Optimus said as everyone looked over at him, "We cannot risk the Decepticons finding us in the open again. Therefore, we will depart he base in pairs, whether for driving practice or scouting for Energon. Bumblebee and Wheelie will take the first shift."

…

Back on the _Nemesis_, four of the Combaticons kneeled before a towering Megatron, who was talking with Onslaught about the attack they led on the Autobots. Megatron suddenly raised one of his eyebrows.

"Are you sure the Autobot femme was terminated?" Megatron inquired.

"I'm sure of it, master," Onslaught responded, "No one could've survived an attack like that. Vortex's blades can slice through anything. If she didn't die immediately, then she would've died on the medical berth." Megatron then laughed darkly.

"Excellent," he growled, "Optimus is already down one new recruit." Just then, Swindle spoke up.

"If I may, my liege," the entrepreneur said as he approached Megatron, "One of Prime's newest recruits is an Autobot named Jolt."

"And why should that be of any interest to me, Swindle?" Megatron inquired.

"Because, Lord Megatron, this Autobot is the last to possess a deadly device that I thought were all wiped out in the War: an Electro-ceptor. With that little device built into his frame, he can become a deadly living weapon," Swindle retorted.

"How do you know of this, Swindle?" Megatron asked.

"Because he used electricity to split Bruticus back into our normal bodies," Onslaught replied, "Electricity that he generated from _inside_ his own body. He then levitated us into the air and threw us across the battlefield in some kind of magnetic field." Megatron snarled in frustration. Just then, he and the Combaticons heard a new voice.

"Fortunately, Megatron, you have two living weapons of your own," the voice said. Everyone looked behind them and saw Sunstorm and Jetstorm approaching them.

"Why do you think they called us the 'Thermal Twins' back on Cybertron?" Jetstorm asked, "My twin and I can go and terminate the electrifying new Autobot for you."

"No," Megatron said as he pointed at the twins, "Not terminate. I need you to _capture_ him. If we can persuade him to join our side, we could gain another deadly asset over the Autobots, but if not…" Megatron didn't even need to finish his sentence as he drew out his sword from under his Fusion Cannon, causing Swindle to gulp in fear as he saw the gleam of the blade. Just then, the entrepreneur hissed in pain and began to hold his side. "Swindle, what is it?" Megatron asked, actually showing concern for one of his most valued soldiers.

"Nothing, just still feeling the heat from that Autobot's flamethrowers singing my circuits," Swindle replied as Blast Off helped him back up.

"It is true, Megatron," Blast Off said as Megatron looked him in the eyes, "When we were attacking the two Aerialbots that Optimus got in his unit as Bruticus, we suddenly felt a searing pain through our whole body, Swindle feeling it the most. The Autobot Flareup was attacking us with a pair of wrist-mounted flamethrowers, and she nearly melted right through Swindle's outer plating."

"I see," Megatron stated, "Swindle, go wash off in some coolant. Sunstorm and Jetstorm, you two are to remain with me. The rest of you are dismissed." With that, Swindle walked out of the room to the coolant chambers and the rest of the Combaticons left to attend to their own business. "Now, your mission will be to find this 'Jolt,' capture him, and bring him to me. I will do the rest. And Dreadwing will also lead you on this mission, as he was your commanding officer back on Cybertron." The twins bowed in gratitude and respect.

"You're the best, Lord Megatron," Sunstorm said as the two Seekers left the room. Megatron then looked over at Soundwave, who was busy decoding the Iacon Database.

"Soundwave, what is your progress on the next set of coordinates?" the Decepticon leader asked. Soundwave, who never speaks, put up an image of a percentage bar, which showed 87% of its space filled. Megatron slowly turned and held up his fake relic. "Soon, Optimus," he growled.

…

Later that night, at the base, Jolt had finally finished repairing Flareup's damaged limbs and any other crumpled metal on her body that wasn't her main injury. Jolt was no medic, so he would have to let Ratchet worry about that. Just as he put up his electro-whips and prepared to head to his chamber, which he was temporarily sharing with Bulkhead, Jolt heard a choked whisper coming from right behind him. He turned around and only saw Flareup lying on her berth, still attached to an Energon tank so she wouldn't bleed out. At first, Jolt thought he was imagining things, but then he saw the femme's fingers on her right hand twitching in and curling, almost like she was trying to hold something with it. Then he heard the same whispering noise again and realized it was coming from Flareup's mouth. He leaned closer to hear what she was trying to say. What he heard left him in complete shock.

"Sm… Smoke… screen," was the whisper.

**Whoo, finally finished! I really had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the Autobots' battle against the Combaticons and its aftermath. Looks like good ol' Megatron never gives up on trying to destroy the Autobots, don't he? Also about the "whispering," I am going to ship Flareup and Smokescreen, but their relationship will develop slowly, like any healthy relationship should. And yes, Flareup is a Wrecker. As always, read, enjoy, and review!**


	4. Legacy

**Chapter 4: Legacy**

The following day, Optimus gave the order of the first patrol to Wheelie and Bumblebee, who transformed into their vehicle forms and sped out of the base. As the two Autobots rolled down the street, Bumblebee started to get slightly agitated as Wheelie, who was still very young compared to the other Autobots, was doing all sorts of reckless driving stunts. The youngling eventually managed to stop his antics when he almost rolled off the road and crashed into a telephone pole.

"**That's why there's road rules, kid,**" Bumblebee said as his partner reverse-drove back onto the road.

"Yeah, you may have a point there," Wheelie replied as the two continued driving down the road, this time side-by-side. As they drove, Bumblebee suddenly picked up an energy signal on his radar.

"**Hey Wheelie,**" Bumblebee said, "**You getting this energy reading?**" Wheelie noticed that his radar was spiking too.

"Yep, and it's getting stronger," Wheelie answered, "And judging from my map, I'd say it's about 5 clicks due north." And with that, Wheelie booked it and began speeding down the road as quickly as he could, Bumblebee trying to stop him.

"**Wait, humans have speed limits on their highways!**" the scout frantically called out as his partner sped up.

"What do you mean 'speed limit'?" Wheelie called back, "I have a gauge in here that can reach up to 100 miles an hour! If the humans who made my car mode didn't want it to go that fast, then they shouldn't have given me the option." And with that, Wheelie kept zooming down the road… until he almost crashed into an oncoming driver, swerving to the side and skidding to a halt. As Wheelie tried to regain his senses from all the spinning he went through, the driver of the other car angrily stepped out of his vehicle with what appeared to be a crowbar in his hand.

"Hey, toy-mobile!" the driver angrily called out, "By the time I'm done with you, you'll need more than just a little super-glue to put you back together!" Just then, Wheelie transformed into his robot form, which stood a good 15 feet in height, approached the driver, who was now stepping back in fear, and kneeled down to his eye level.

"Bring it," Wheelie taunted. The driver dropped his crowbar and flinched when Wheelie raised his arm in a mock attack. "Who's the tough guy now?" he jokingly asked. Just then, Bumblebee transformed into his robot mode, ran over and pushed Wheelie back.

"**What do you think you're doing?**" Bumblebee asked as he looked back at the terrified human, "**Autobots can't harm humans!**" Wheelie started to laugh.

"Relax, Bee," Wheelie replied as he put a hand on Bumblebee's shoulder, "I'm just messing around with him." As Wheelie said this, the driver took out his phone and held it up to the two Autobots. Bumblebee saw this and frantically waved his hand in front of him.

"**No, wait…**" but it was already too late, as the driver had just taken a picture of him and Wheelie, climbed back into his car, and sped off as quickly as he could, causing Bumblebee to shoot a glare at Wheelie.

"What?" Wheelie asked as he put his hands in front of him.

…

On the _Nemesis_, Sunstorm and Jetstorm were in the armory meeting up with Dreadwing, their captain and commanding officer back in the War for Cybertron. The three Seekers were standing in front of a table, upon which Dreadwing was tending to his rifle.

"So Lord Megatron has requested that the two of you are to remain under my command," Dread wing said as he finished putting the bayonet back on the barrel of the gun, "And as your captain both on and off Cybertron, you both are to report to me and to follow my commands. Is that understood?" The twin Seekers stood at attention and saluted.

"Sir, yes sir," Sunstorm and Jetstorm responded.

"Good," Dreadwing said as he finished putting his weapon back together, "Now Megatron has also told me that he has a mission for you. Would you care to tell me what this mission is?"

"To find, subdue and capture an Autobot named Jolt," Jetstorm answered.

"And the significance behind capturing this Autobot?" Dreadwing asked again.

"He contains an Electro-ceptor in his framing," Sunstorm responded, "With that thing in his body, he can become both a living power generator and a deadly weapon. If Lord Megatron can persuade him to join our cause, he could become a valuable asset." Dreadwing thought over the twins' mission for a moment.

"I see. You have my permission to proceed with this mission, but wait for my signal. We must first draw the Autobot into the open, then strike," Dreadwing said as he clenched his fist. With that, the twins nodded and left the room.

…

Back at the Autobot base, Jack was scrolling through the internet until he found the picture he was looking for: the picture of Wheelie and Bumblebee on the highway.

"Found it," he called out, "Looks like old Road Rage didn't waste any time posting your mugshots. Raf can fix that as soon as he's back from house-hunting." As Jack closed out the browser, he turned around to see the Autobots getting into a big argument with Wheelie.

"Is this what you learned while serving under Jazz during your time in space?!" Ratchet angrily asked, "I doubt that Prime's first lieutenant would condone of such behavior." Jazz stepped in between Wheelie and Ratchet.

"I'm right here, you know," Jazz snapped, "And while I can say that what Wheelie did was not cool, bear in mind that he's still a _kid_. He's going to make mistakes, something that kids are prone to do."

"Yeah, but blowing his cover like that could've made it easier for the 'Cons to find him and terminate him, or even worse, track him so they could find our base and destroy us all," Arcee responded. Wheelie hung his head in embarrassment.

"Look, I know I screwed up, but I won't make the same mistake twice," Wheelie said as Optimus walked in behind him.

"While Ratchet, Jazz and Arcee are correct," the Prime said, "I believe we are all equally responsible for this incident." Arcee and Ratchet just gawked at him.

"Us?" Arcee asked in shock.

"How?!" Ratchet asked in equal shock.

"We weren't even there!" Warpath said.

"**I was there, doofus,**" Bumblebee snapped.

"Well, Bee was," Warpath calmly added, prompting Fireflight to elbow the Defender in the gut.

"Our recent efforts have been so intensely focused on averting crises, that we have overlooked simple matters," Optimus replied, "Such as teaching our new recruits how to properly function on this planet. It is an oversight that must be corrected." Sensing an opportunity to prove himself to his hero, Wheelie looked Optimus dead in the eye.

"Optimus, I'm willing to train under you," Wheelie pleaded, "And I'll do whatever it takes to make things right. To make you proud." Optimus placed a hand on the youngling's shoulder.

"Perhaps the best way for you to learn about the human world, Wheelie, is _from_ a human," the Autobot leader said. Arcee cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wheelie gets his own partner?" she asked. Ratchet scoffed.

"Oh please," he groaned, "Aren't three humans enough?" When eighteen pairs of optics and a pair of human eyes shot him a skeptical glance, Ratchet just groaned and turned back to the monitors.

"I was referring to one already among us," Optimus said as he gestured over to Jack. Jack widened his eyes for a moment, but then regained his senses instantly.

"Uh, sure," he said, "Robots in Disguise, traffic laws, don't crush humans. I can bring Wheelie up to speed." Bulkhead walked over to Wheelie and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We've all put in curbside duty," the Wrecker said, "Part of the gig." As Jack climbed down from the computer section, Wheelie walked over to him.

"Then let's go for a drive, teach," he said as he transformed into his car mode, Jack climbing in through the open door. As Wheelie sped out of the base, Arcee looked over to Optimus.

"Optimus, with all due respect, Agent Fowler is out relocating Raf's family because the Decepticons found out where he lives," the two-wheeler said, "Meanwhile Wheelie, in all his wisdom, chooses a vehicle form with a large, open windshield and screaming silver checker-patterns on the doors. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than concerned about Jack's safety."

"Nonetheless," Optimus replied, "the fact remains that our youngest recruit is in need of instruction. I believe that Wheelie's Spark is in the right place, and that he now understands the necessities of protecting humanity."

…

Meanwhile, out in town, Jack was busy giving Wheelie his lessons in driving on human roads. As soon as they rounded a bend, Jack saw an intersection up ahead.

"Alright, intersection," the teen said, "Let's review. Light's green?"

"Green for '_go_'," Wheelie replied. Then the two came up on a yellow light.

"And yellow?" Jack asked again.

"Go _faster_!" Wheelie replied, gunning the motor and taking off at high speed. Jack suddenly got a little scared for his life. Just as Wheelie was gunning it, the light suddenly turned red. Jack now felt terrified, until Wheelie hit the brakes, skidding to a stop just at the white line under the light. As Jack tried to catch his breath, Wheelie couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I'm just kidding." Jack gave a sarcastic laugh in retort, but then heard a familiar noise coming from behind. Looking in the rear view mirror, his eyes widened as he saw a black muscle car with a red-flame paint job around the grill coming up next to them. Jack immediately crouched down and raised the window. Wheelie suddenly felt antsy.

"What is it, 'Cons?" he asked.

"No, just someone from school I'd rather not talk to," Jack replied in a half-whisper. That "someone from school" was none other than the local bully Vince, Jack's old rival from the street race he participated in a long time ago. Smirking when he saw who it was in the car next to him, Vince reached into a brown bag in the passenger seat and pulled out a burger he had ordered. Without a moment's hesitation or second thought, he unwrapped the paper from the sandwich, and then threw it at Wheelie's window, its contents smearing all over the glass. Vince laughed as his light turned green and sped off.

"Seriously?" Wheelie asked as he and Jack drove off.

"Just let it go," Jack replied.

"Are you kidding me?" Wheelie asked again, "Where's your self-respect? We've gotta stand up for ourselves."

"We also have to follow Optimus' rules," Jack replied, "We can't just protect humans, but we can't harm them, either." Then Wheelie got an idea.

"Whoever said anything about _harming_?" Wheelie asked in a devious tone.

…

A couple hours later, Jack and Wheelie drove back to the base. As soon as they entered the base, Wheelie opened the door and let Jack out, and the two immediately burst out laughing.

"Oh, I am _so_ posting this tonight!" Jack said as he took out his phone, "Hey Arcee, you've _gotta_ see this! Check out Vince's car!" Arcee walked over and looked at the photo. It showed Vince's car stuffed from the floor to the surface with hamburger wrappers. "Hey, Vince, want fries with that?" Jack jokingly asked, prompting him and Wheelie to go into another laughing fit.

"So let me get this straight," Arcee said as she got up, "You taught Wheelie everything he _never_ needed to know about fast food?"

"He passed Driver's Ed," Jack replied, "Work hard, play hard."

"Yeah, no humans were harmed in the making of these photos, honest," Wheelie said as he and Jack walked off.

…

Back on the _Nemesis_, Soundwave put up a display of the coordinates for the next Iacon relic on his monitor-like face. Megatron looked at the picture with peculiar interest.

"You have decoded the next set of coordinates?" Megatron said, "Excellent, Soundwave. Then it is time to beta test our decoy." As he said this, Megatron held up the fake relic he had shown the Combaticons earlier.

…

Back at the base, Optimus was hard at work decoding the very same coordinates that Soundwave had completed.

"I am nearly finished decoding the next Iacon coordinates," he announced. Just then, he and Ratchet heard a beeping sound coming from the monitors.

"You may not need to complete your task, Optimus," the medic said as the monitor showed a signal coming from somewhere in central China.

"An Iacon locator beacon," Optimus said in a half-whisper.

"It seems that the Decepticons have already excavated the next relic," Ratchet replied.

"Ratchet, triangulate coordinates and prepare the Ground Bridge," Optimus ordered as Ratchet readied the portal. Optimus then walked over to the green vortex, where every other available Autobot, minus Wheelie, was standing ready for action.

"Bring on the 'Cons," Bulkhead happily declared as he banged his fists together. Optimus looked at his troops and noticed that one of his troops was missing.

"Where is Wheelie?" Optimus asked.

"Out training again with Jack," Arcee replied.

"We cannot wait. Autobots, transform and roll out," Optimus replied. With that, all the Autobots, except for Ratchet, who was managing the Bridge, and Flareup, who was still bedridden after the battle with Bruticus, transformed into their vehicle forms and sped through the Ground Bridge to the designated coordinates.

…

While the Autobots were busy following the fake coordinates, as he suspected they would, Megatron accompanied an excavation team, led by Barricade, to the real coordinates provided by Soundwave. After what felt like an eternity of digging and removing rock, one of the miners stumbled across the relic.

"Lord Megatron, we've found it," the miner called as Megatron approached.

"I certainly hope that our newfound acquisition is of Decepticon origin," Megatron rumbled as he walked over, but what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks, "It cannot be!" Another miner removed another boulder so Megatron could get a better look at the relic, which appeared to be the hilt of a sword, the blade completely embedded in the stone. "Power of this magnitude must _never_ be allowed to reach the hands of Optimus Prime… _no matter what_." With that, Megatron approached the sword and placed his hand on the hilt, proceeding to pull on it with all his strength. But to his surprise, the sword wouldn't budge. Deciding to do things his way, Megatron aimed his Fusion Cannon at the stone and fired several blasts at it. When the dust settled, Megatron was astonished to see that the stone was completely unscathed.

"The rock is impermeable," he snarled, "The relic is emanating a protective shield. It will only respond to the power of a Prime." He then turned to his troops. "We remove the relic, even if we have to take the _entire mountain_!" Barricade looked over at his excavation team.

"You heard him," the enforcer shouted, "Start cutting that rock!" With that, the Vehicons and Insecticons immediately got to work on removing the stone.

…

Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet was working overtime between checking on the life signals of the other Autobots and healing Flareup's wounds. As he finished patching up the smaller wounds and covering up the larger one to work on later, Ratchet went back to the monitor, where he found another signal activating.

"Optimus, I've just picked up a second Iacon locator beacon," the medic said into the com-link, "Optimus, do you read?" The only answer he got was static.

…

In central China, Optimus and the other Autobots were busy pursuing the "relic."

"No sign of 'Cons," Bulkhead said.

"Aw, and I was looking forward to blasting someone," Warpath said, disappointed. As the Autobots continued walking in the direction of the "relic," Soundwave flew overhead, carrying the false relic with him, which was the origin of the first beacon.

…

Wheelie drove back into base, skidding to a screeching halt. Once Jack stepped out of his vehicle form, Wheelie shifted back into his robot form as he shared another laugh with his human partner.

"Oh man, my boss is gonna freak!" Jack said as he laughed.

"That thing we stuffed in his tailpipe, what was it called again? Pizza?" Wheelie asked before going into another laughing fit.

"Will you two keep it down?" Ratchet snapped as he tried calling into the com-link again, "Arcee? Bulkhead? Ironhide? Can anyone hear me?" Once again, all he got was static.

"Ratchet, what's going on?" Jack asked as he and Wheelie walked over to him.

"Our sensors just detected a second Iacon locator beacon, but I can't reach Optimus," Ratchet replied. Just then, Wheelie got an idea.

"I'll go," the youngling declared.

"Alone?" Ratchet asked.

"You got any better ideas?" Wheelie retorted. Without a second thought, Ratchet activated the Ground Bridge on the coordinates the beacon provided. "He says 'fine,' but I don't think he really wants me to go _alone_," he said as he looked over at Jack.

…

At the mountain the sword-relic was in, a Ground Bridge opened up, revealing Jack as he walked out of the portal, Wheelie appearing right behind him.

"I just pulled a 'Miko'," Jack said as he placed his hand on his forehead, remembering all the crazy stuff his friend would get herself into.

"Let's go grab a relic!" Wheelie said as he ran off to get a better look at what their prize was, Jack following suit. Upon reaching a rocky ridge, the two saw Barricade's mining team as they cut their way through the rock. Jack saw the relic and widened his eyes.

"Whoa, looks like some kind of sword," Jack said as he looked over at Wheelie.

"Yeah, and if Optimus had it, imagine the damage he could do to the 'Cons with a weapon like that," Wheelie replied, "I'm gonna make Optimus proud." As he prepared to make a dash for the sword, Jack stopped him.

"Not a good idea, Wheelie," Jack said.

"Why's that?" Wheelie asked back.

"Because Megatron's here too," Jack replied. Wheelie looked out and saw the Decepticon leader himself giving an order to two of his troopers.

"The 'Dark Lord' himself," Wheelie said as a cocky grin spread across his face, "He won't know what hit him." As he prepared to dash again, Jack once again stopped his advances.

"Hold up, something isn't right," Jack said, "Why doesn't Megatron just take the sword himself already?"

"Germophobe?" Wheelie asked.

"Seriously, we need to wait for backup," Jack said as he crouched behind a boulder. Wheelie thought for a moment before piping up again.

"You heard Ratchet," Wheelie said as he climbed on top of a rock, "Backup's not available right now." And with that, he leapt off the rock he was standing on and made a mad dash for the Decepticons, with Jack being helpless to watch as the young Autobot tested fate.

Down at the excavation site, the troopers had finally finished cutting through the rock. Megatron walked over and put a hand up to his com-link system.

"Commence transport!" he commanded as the ship lowered a tow cable onto the rock. Once the cable was attached, the crew on the ship began the long, arduous process of hauling it up into its cargo bay. As Megatron watched with glee as his prize was being removed, he suddenly heard the sound of blaster fire going off. He looked over to his left and saw Wheelie opening fire on his troopers with his Energon Battle Pistol. "Who in the Pits of Kaon is that?!" he asked, surprised to see an Autobot in the area. Wheelie shot holes through four troopers with the gun and subdued two more with several martial arts moves. After shooting another trooper in the head, Wheelie dashed over to the sword and tried to pull it out of the stone, but like Megatron's efforts, his own struggles were fruitless.

"Wow, it's really in there nice and tight," the youngling said before he was tackled by an unseen force. As Wheelie rolled across the floor with his assailant, he saw that Barricade himself was onto him. When they stopped rolling, Barricade pinned the young Autobot and began pounding on him. After a few successful hits, Wheelie managed to knock Barricade's arm aside and threw a punch of his own right into the enforcer's face. As Barricade stumbled back in a daze, Wheelie got up and began to launch a slew of punches right to his torso. Wheelie was doing a good job at first, until Barricade managed to catch the next one and pin his arm behind his back. Barricade then pinned Wheelie underfoot, ensuring that the young Autobot had no means of escape.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, kid," Barricade said as he raised his fist again. Wheelie braced for impact, but the hit never came. Instead, he heard a voice.

"At ease, Barricade," Megatron said, "I think this child has been disciplined enough." Barricade raised his foot off Wheelie's back and lowered his arm. The rest of the troopers pointed their blasters at him to make sure the Autobot didn't pull any tricks. From his hiding place, Jack could only watch helplessly.

"No," he whispered as he took out his phone, "This can't be happening." He quickly dialed a number into his phone. "Ratchet," he said, "You gotta get Optimus. Wheelie went for the relic. It looks like some kind of sw…" Before Jack could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard the sound of hissing. He turned around… and saw an Insecticon towering over him.

…

Back at the base, Ratchet was listing to Jack's distress call.

"Jack, where in the name of Cybertron are you," the medic asked, "And did you say a relic that looks like a sword?" Then he heard the sound of the Insecticon chasing him. "Oh my," he said with wide optics. He quickly turned to the monitor where his teammates' health signals were. "Optimus, please respond!" Once again, static. "I can see that you're alive, Optimus, but why won't you answer me?"

…

Back in China, the Autobots continued their wild goose chase for the false relic. Arcee looked down at the signal tracker and noticed that the signal moved to another location. She groaned in frustration.

"Every time we get close to the beacon, the signal moves," Arcee said as Bulkhead walked up next to her.

"All this leg work is giving me itchy fists," the Wrecker said as he punched one hand into the other. Optimus walked up next to them.

"It seems we've been led astray by a Decepticon trick," the Autobot leader said. Just then a Ground Bridge opened behind them, Ratchet running out of it.

"We have a situation," Ratchet said.

…

Back in the mountain forest range, Jack continued being hounded by the Insecticon, who apparently brought a second along for the hunt. The teenage boy had to run, jump and dodge to the best of his potential as he avoided being stepped on, crushed and slashed at by the bestial warriors. Meanwhile, the sword was finally being lifted up into the air by the cable, and Megatron eyed Wheelie with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"Bring him to me!" he commanded. Barricade hoisted Wheelie up off the ground and dragged him over to Megatron, throwing him at the warlord's feet. Back at the Insecticon hunt, Jack managed to crawl into a crevice inside a large rock, but it wasn't enough, as the Insecticons began to claw their way through the rock. At the same time, Megatron glowered down at Wheelie.

"What is your name, Autobot or should I say youngling?" Megatron asked.

"Why?" Wheelie answered with the same cocky grin on his face, "Who wants to know?" Irritated by the youngling's answer, Megatron raised his hand to smack his prisoner, when he suddenly heard the sound of gunfire going off behind him. He turned around and saw the Autobots plowing through his troopers. But then he noticed that one of them was missing. "Where's Optimus?" His answer came in the form of seeing Optimus Prime scaling the side of the mountain in pursuit of the relic, which was being hauled away by the ship. "Keep Prime away from the RELIC!" Megatron commanded as he and three jet Vehicons transformed and flew off to prevent Optimus from getting the sword. Meanwhile, Wheelie was trying to aim his pistol at Megatron, only to have a Vehicon aim his own blaster at him. A moment later, a shot came out and hit the Vehicon, killing him instantly. Wheelie looked over and saw Ironhide running up to him.

"You alright, kid?" the veteran asked. Meanwhile, Arcee finished slicing a Vehicon's head off with her arm blades when she heard the growl of an Insecticon nearby. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw two Insecticons digging away at something. Realizing that Jack was there, she ran over as fast as she could and eliminated them, killing one by dropping a boulder on its head and the other by slicing its throat with her blades. Jack saw her and sighed in gratitude. Arcee, however, was not so amused.

"What could you have possibly been thinking?!" she asked like an angry mother would to her child. Meanwhile, Optimus continued his chase after the sword, but he now had a lot more on his plate with four Decepticon fliers, Megatron included, chasing after _him_. Once Optimus got to an equal height as the relic's stone capsule, he transformed and sped towards a raise of stone on the mountainside, using his speed and momentum to launch himself into the air. Once airborne, however, Megatron and his compatriots began to open fire on him. Most of their shots missed, but then one of Megatron's shots managed to hit Optimus on the nose of his truck form, sending him spiraling through the air. But even then, that still wasn't enough, as Optimus still managed to grab onto the hilt of the sword as it hung from the rock. A moment later, the sword itself began to glow as blue as Optimus' optics, and it seemed to radiate raw power. Then suddenly, it slipped out of the stone, and Optimus began to tumble back toward the ground. After free-falling through the air, Optimus straightened out and pointed the sword at the ground, the impact of the blade sending a wave of blue light rippling in all directions. When the light faded, Optimus rose up from the ground and held the blade up high, like a knight who had just won an epic battle. Megatron, who had since returned to the ship, angrily clenched his fist and growled.

"Drop the mountain on him!" he roared. The crew released the cable from the ship, and the large slab of stone was sent falling to the ground and rolling down the mountainside… straight at the Autobots.

"Optimus, retreat!" Ironhide called out.

"Now," Warpath added. Instead of turning around, Optimus turned around and performed an uppercut slash, cleaving the stone in half like a piece of butter. The Autobots and Jack could only stare in shock as Optimus lowered the sword and looked up at the _Nemesis_, where Megatron was also looking on not only in shock, but also horror, as Optimus Prime just gained a powerful advantage for his side. Optimus then ran forward, spun around with the sword pointed outward, then slashed sideways, sending a crescent-shaped energy wave at the retreating ship, hitting it in the engines and sending it falling down to the ground, where the ship managed to get airborne at the last second.

"We Decepticons now face our darkest hour," Megatron rumbled as the ship arced back into the sky.

…

Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet bridged the other Autobots back to base, and Smokescreen was still in complete shock at the way Optimus used the sword.

"How epic was that?!" the rookie excitedly asked, "Optimus was using the Star Saber like he had been using it for a long time!" Wheelie was equally excited.

"I know, right?!" the youngling said, "I can't believe it! The way he swung out the mountain _and_ Megatron's ship was AMAZING!" Just then, Arcee stormed over to him.

"You know what I can't believe?" she angrily asked, "That even after everything you were told, you _still_ put a human at risk!"

"Look, Arcee," Jack started, "It wasn't his fault, I shouldn't have…"

"Don't you even start with me, Jack!" Arcee snapped, "We'll talk tomorrow." She then turned around to Ratchet. "Send Jack home." Ratchet complied and opened a Ground Bridge to Jack's house. Jack slowly turned around and walked toward the green vortex, taking a last moment to look back at Wheelie.

"Green for 'go'," Wheelie calmly said. Jack smiled and walked through the Ground Bridge. Wheelie then turned around to face Arcee again.

"We've been in need of another Autobot in our ranks, not another child," she said in a scolding voice. Wheelie got tense.

"Then you may as well just kick me out right now," Wheelie snapped, practically getting up in Arcee's face, "Because in case you haven't noticed, I _am _a child!" Arcee flinched as Wheelie prepared to attack her, but Sideswipe held him back.

"Easy there, kiddo," the martial artist said as Optimus walked over, placing a firm hand on Wheelie's shoulder.

"Disregard for human safety, or anyone's safety, will not be tolerated," Optimus said as he placed the tip of the sword on the ground, "Is that understood?" Wheelie only hung his head in shame.

"Yes sir," he replied.

"We must never lose sight of the fact that upon this Earth, we are titans," Optimus said as he took his hand off Wheelie's shoulder, "And such power must be used wisely." Suddenly the Star Saber began to glow light blue. Optimus picked up the blade and began to stare into it with extreme intention.

"Optimus, speak to me," Ratchet said, "Optimus?" After a moment, Optimus spoke.

"I am receiving a message," the Prime answered.

"From whom?" Ratchet asked.

"Alpha Trion," Optimus replied.

**Now it looks like things are beginning to get a little bit tense for both sides. Also the reason I switched places between Smokescreen and Wheelie was because I made Wheelie younger and greener than Smokescreen, and as such, a child would be more likely to do something like put Jack in danger than a rookie soldier. I also didn't like the way Arcee kept belittling Smokescreen for that one mistake on the show, so I made some slight changes. Wheelie also begins an intense rivalry with Barricade. Next chapter continues the Star Saber saga. As always, read, enjoy, and review.**


	5. AlphaOmega

**Chapter 5: Alpha/Omega**

The _Nemesis_, having recovered from its attack by Optimus Prime, was soaring through the clouds. Megatron and Dreadwing were both standing on the bridge, both pondering on a way to counter the Star Saber. After a moment of thinking, the first lieutenant of the Decepticons spoke up.

"Forgive me, Lord Megatron," he said, "But while I do not question the wisdom of our tactical retreat, know that I am fully prepared to lead the troops in a counterattack against the Autobots." Megatron turned to face his second-in-command.

"Counterattack?!" he asked, "Perhaps you failed to witness Optimus Prime cleave an entire mountain with a single blow. With the Star Saber in his possession, our enemy can easily obliterate us with a wave of his hand. Not even Bruticus would be able to stand up to it. I must find a way to tip the balance of power back in our favor." Just then, Dreadwing got an idea.

"Do we not also possess a powerful relic of the Ancients?" he asked.

"Indeed: the Forge of Solus Prime," Megatron replied, "But it is useless without the hand of a Prime." Then Megatron got a dark, twisted idea, as he began to chuckle in a sinister manner. "But I might be able to wield that power… if I were to _control_ such a hand."

…

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus Prime was having a vision from the Star Saber about his old mentor, Alpha Trion. As he stared at the spectral image of the elderly Autobot, Alpha Trion spoke.

"I wish I could meet you under better circumstances, Optimus Prime," he said, "But I fear Iacon will not be able to withstand the next Decepticon assault." Optimus realized that this was no immediate call, but instead a voice from the past.

"So you speak to me from across the ages," Optimus said.

"If you are listening to this message, then I take solace that you now possess the Star Saber," Alpha Trion continued, "I am hoping that you have learned how such Iacon relics and Decepticon weapons came to be found on such a remote world. Indeed I transported them there, not so far to keep them from Megatron's hands, but to ensure that they reach yours. As you may have long suspected, the Covenant of Primus records events of the future, as well as the past. My imperfect understanding of its runes affords me a shadowy glimpse of what is to come. The Covenant's pages foretold that you, Optimus Prime, would journey to the small but significant planet and there, engage in a crucial chapter in the war against the Decepticons. I know neither the nature of the battle, nor its outcome. I can only hope that these relics will aid the Autobots in your time of need. Of utmost importance, in a few moments, I will launch the last of the relics, the most significant and powerful of them all." Then, the transmission ended, and Optimus soon touched the sword on the floor, Ratchet rushing over to help him.

"Easy, Optimus," the medic said as he helped Optimus back on his feet.

"So, did Alpha Trion ask about me?" Smokescreen asked before Ironhide pushed him aside.

"What was the message?" the weapons specialist asked.

"It is paramount that we recover the final four Iacon relics: the Omega Keys," Optimus answered. The other Autobots looked at Optimus with dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"Keys?" Arcee asked.

"To what?" Hound added.

"To the regeneration of our home planet," Optimus deadpanned.

…

Back on the _Nemesis_, which was outside Earth's atmosphere and within the moon's orbital range, Megatron and Dreadwing were standing on the launch deck on the upper hull of the ship. Dreadwing noticed that the ship was on a course beyond the Earth's natural satellite.

"Earth's moon is a barren rock, is it not?" the Seeker asked.

"Indeed, Dreadwing," Megatron replied, "But the moon is not our destination." Just then, something Dreadwing was quite familiar with drifted out from behind the moon.

"A Space Bridge," Dreadwing stated.

"Our very own," Megatron said, "Relocated here after the Autobots discovered its whereabouts on Earth. The dark side of the moon is hidden from prying human eyes, and more importantly, well out of the Autobots' reach. Come, Dreadwing. We will travel to the one place in the galaxy that may provide us with the edge to defeat Optimus Prime." With that, Megatron and Dreadwing leapt over the edge of the launch deck and transformed into their jet forms before flying through the Space Bridge to Cybertron.

…

Back at the Autobot base, everyone was ecstatic about the discovery of the Omega Keys' power.

"Pack your gear. We're going back to Cybertron!" Bulkhead happily called as he clashed his fists.

"**I know, I can't believe it,**" Bumblebee blipped. Ratchet turned and laughed giddily.

"Well believe it now, Bumblebee," the medic said, "Civilization at last."

"But I just got here," Smokescreen said.

"Yeah, so did we," Jazz added.

"Remember oil baths?" Arcee asked, "The first thing I'm doing planet-side is soak for an entire solar-cycle." Bulkhead was still chuckling like a child.

"I can't wait to tell Miko," he said before he realized that leaving Earth would also mean leaving his friend behind. Arcee suddenly realized the same thing.

"And Jack," she somberly added.

"**And Raf,**" Bumblebee finished. While Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were contemplating the true consequences of going home, Jazz and Smokescreen walked over to Optimus, who was busy decoding the coordinates of the first Omega Key.

"Um, Optimus, keys open doors. Can they really revive an entire planet?" Smokescreen asked as Optimus turned around.

"While I am unfamiliar with the lore of these Omega Keys," the Prime answered, "Alpha Trion knew many secrets. And the Ancients possessed technology that has long been lost to what we call 'modern science'."

…

In the cold, dead sky of the once prosperous planet known as Cybertron, a green vortex opened up, revealing Megatron and Dreadwing in their jet forms as they flew out of it. Dreadwing did a scan of their native environment, disgust and rage festering in his Spark.

"The devastation to our home world is worse than I remember," the first lieutenant of the Decepticons growled, "Curse the Autobots to the Pit!"

…

The Autobots all gathered around Optimus as he began to share news of the four relics.

'"Whatever their function, this much is certain," Optimus explained, "We cannot revive Cybertron without all four Omega Keys in our possession."

"Which means that we can't afford to lose a single one to Megatron," Fireflight said as the attention was focused on her. Flareup, who had since been patched up and released from her medical berth, then realized another thing.

"And if Megatron realizes the power of these relics, then he'll send out every one of his forces to stop us from getting them," the femme Wrecker added. Optimus nodded in response.

"Four sets of coordinates remain encrypted," he said as he turned back to the screen, "It is logical to assume that each one leads to the location of one of the Omega Keys. I must not waver until I have decoded them all. The future of our home world depends on it."

…

Back on Cybertron, the door of a tomb was slowly, but forcibly, opened, and Megatron and Dreadwing entered, hoping to find something to give the Decepticons the winning edge.

"A tomb," Dreadwing noted.

"One known to contain the remains of Primes," Megatron said as he entered the room with a coffin in the center, "Please, tell me that you're not adverse to desecration."

"It is just that being in such a place invokes powerful emotions," Dreadwing replied, "Considering the fate of my twin."

"Then you should delight in our purpose here," Megatron said, "To exact our revenge of Skyquake, and of all our fallen brethren." This was all the motivation Dreadwing needed, as the Seeker grabbed the lid of the coffin and pushed it off. Once the dead corpse inside was revealed, Megatron activated the sword underneath his Fusion Cannon, raised the blade up over his head, and slashed one of the deceased Prime's arms off.

…

At the Autobots' base, everyone seemed to be busier than ever. Smokescreen was helping Flareup recover the strength in her legs and helping her relearn how to walk, Jazz and the most of the others were prepping their weapons for any future battles for the Omega Keys, and Ratchet was busy forging a holster for the Star Saber. As his frame-welder buzzed on contact with metal, Optimus looked over at the distracting sound of Ratchet's work.

"You shall require a more appropriate means of carrying such a blade," the medic said. Optimus nodded and turned back to the monitor to continue his work on the Omega Keys. Meanwhile, the other Autobots were standing in a group talking.

"I feel funny saying this, but I'm not sure I want to go back," Arcee said.

"Who knew we'd get so used to our new home?" Bulkhead asked.

"**I can't even imagine the sadness Raf would go through if I left,**" Bumblebee said.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd ever want to leave Miko," Bulkhead replied.

"We've made friends here," Arcee said, "Family."

"We can always… _text_ them," Ratchet called out as he resumed his work on the Saber's holster.

"Besides, we've been fighting Decepticons for so long I don't know if I can even _do_ anything else," Ironhide said as he crossed his arms.

"You and Bulkhead can both go back into construction," Ratchet said, "The power of the Ancients may breathe life back into Cybertron's core, but our war-ravaged cities will surely require rebuilding."

"And I would highly recommend on postponing any plans of travel until further notice," Perceptor said as everyone looked over at him, "We still have to _find_ those keys before Megatron gets his ravenous claws all over them." Smokescreen, who approached them with Flareup holding her hands on his shoulder and elbow, gave a light chuckle as he approached the group as well.

"Like that'll be a challenge," the rookie said as he helped Flareup sit down on top of a crate, "Optimus has the Star Saber now. Megatron's end is in sight."

…

The _Nemesis_ was flying through space above Earth's outer atmosphere. Megatron, who had since returned with his prize, was in the ship's medical station, with Knock Out, the ship's medic, at his side.

"Yes, I can do it, Lord Megatron, if you're certain that's what you really want," Knock Out said.

"Like nothing I've ever desired before, doctor," Megatron replied. Knock Out turned to the medical screens next to him.

"I shall induce stasis…" he began before Megatron cut him off.

"No!" Megatron interjected, "I wish to bear witness as you attach my new appendage." Knock Out smiled with glee as he turned his hand into a large circular saw.

"Coming up," the red Decepticon said as he began to remove Megatron's right arm.

…

On one the Autobots' telescreens, a new set of coordinates appeared, indicating that Optimus decoded the first set of coordinates for an Omega Key.

"Autobots, I have decoded the first set of the final four coordinates," the Prime said, "Divide into teams so that in the event that I can decode another set of coordinates, that team can go out before the first team returns." Smokescreen raised his hand.

"I'm on team one," he said, "Who's with me?" After a moment of silence, Arcee spoke up.

"I'll go," she deadpanned.

"Me too," Wheelie said, but then Arcee quickly turned around.

"No, you will stay here until Optimus decodes the next set of coordinates," she coldly said before turning around. Ratchet opened the Ground bridge, and Arcee and Smokescreen transformed into their vehicle forms as they sped through the green portal.

…

Back on the _Nemesis_, Megatron walked into the workshop of the warship, his Prime arm fully attached to its new limb. The Forge of Solus Prime had been laid out before him on the table in the center of the room. As soon as he made contact with the massive hammer, the tool suddenly began to surge with power, almost as if it were awakened by a long-lost switch. Megatron placed his other hand on the handle of the hammer and raised it over his head.

"At long last, the power of the Primes belongs to me!" the Decepticon leader said as he prepared to use the Forge.

…

In the hot, dry sands of the Egyptian desert, the Ground Bridge opened up, revealing a blue Ducati motorcycle and a white McLaren race car driving out of it and transforming, revealing Arcee and Smokescreen, who aimed their weapons around them in case any Decepticons beat them to the coordinates. When they saw that the coast was clear, both Autobots lowered their weapons.

"First ones here," Smokescreen said.

"And no locator beacon, which means that the relic's still buried," Arcee said as she took out her energy locator, "And it should be right… there." Arcee pointed her locator right at some ruins right next to one of the pyramids.

…

Back in the workshop of the _Nemesis_, Megatron was hard at work using the Forge to build his first creation. Dreadwing, Knock Out and Blitzwing were standing by and watching as their master toiled away.

"The Forge of Solus Prime possesses the power to create anything from any raw material," Dreadwing explained as the three Decepticons watched.

"And in this case, said 'raw material' would be a big hunk of Dark Energon," Knock out added.

"But vat Megatron iz attempting to make, ve vill have to vait und see," Blitzwing said, his voice heavy with an accent that humans called "German."

…

Back in Egypt, Arcee and Smokescreen approached the ruins that the locator had picked up the signal from, the signal getting stronger with every step.

"You know, Arcee, you shouldn't be so harsh with Wheelie," Smokescreen said as Arcee turned around, "He made one tiny little mistake and now he knows not to make it again. I also get the fact that humans squish easily, but you can't keep a grudge on the kid for one little error in judgment."

"This isn't just about Jack," Arcee angrily replied, "Team Prime can't afford any casualties, human or Autobot. I already lost two seasoned partners, and I don't need a youngling or a rookie on my scorecard."

"That's not going to happen," Smokescreen said, "Elite Guardsman's honor. Wait, you lost _two_ partners?" The two Autobots then proceeded to enter the ruins.

…

In the _Nemesis_' workshop, Megatron was almost finished with his project when Soundwave suddenly walked in with a set of coordinates on his monitor face.

"You have decoded the next set of Iacon coordinates," Megatron noted, "Excellent work, Soundwave." Blitzwing's eyes gleamed, even in the low light of the workshop.

"I volunteer to go und retrieve ze relic for you, my liege," the Triple-changer said as he prepared to leave.

"No," Megatron replied, "I will see to this task myself." With that, Megatron put the finishing touches on his project.

…

Inside the ruins, Arcee noticed that the signal coming from the Key was getting stronger still. After what felt like an eternity of crouched walking through corridors, the two Autobots finally came across the source of the signal. Smokescreen noticed that on the wall was a hieroglyph of two deities holding an object that greatly resembled an Omega Key.

"Pretty much spells things out, doesn't it," the rookie said as Arcee put up the locator.

"Come on, help me move this," Arcee said as she placed her hands on the edge of the stone slab in front of their prize. After pulling it out, Arcee shone her flashlight into the wall, revealing the Omega Key inside it. Smokescreen took the key in hand, and he and Arcee soon began to take their leave.

"I bet the ancient humans who lived here thought the Omega Key was a gift from the gods," Smokescreen said as they neared the exit.

"And in a sense, they weren't wrong," Arcee replied. But as they got closer to the exit, Arcee saw the figure of a person she never thought she and her partner would see out in the field alone: Megatron himself.

"The relic, now," Megatron demanded as Arcee and Smokescreen stepped out into the moonlight.

"Two on one, we can take him easy," Smokescreen said as he got into a battle pose. Just then, Megatron reached behind his back and drew out what appeared to be look-alike of the Star Saber, only its hue was purple instead of blue, and pointed it at the Autobots. Arcee knew that if they tried to fight him, they'd get killed easily.

"Ratchet, Ground Bridge now!" the two-wheeler called into her comm link. Megatron smirked as he gave a horizontal slash from his sword, sending a crescent of dark energy at Arcee and Smokescreen, who were struck by it and sent flying, Smokescreen dropping the Omega Key in the process. As Megatron prepared another attack, Smokescreen rose to his feet and began to open fire on the Decepticon leader, who simply deflected the blasts off the flat of his sword. Arcee also got up and opened fore as well, but her attacks didn't fare much better than Smokescreen's. Megatron then sent out another slash of energy from his sword, which hit Smokescreen and sent the rookie flying into a wall.

"Smokescreen!" Arcee called out helplessly as her partner disappeared in a crash and a cloud of dust. As Arcee turned around to look away from the remains of the wall Smokescreen flew through, Megatron stomped over and picked up the key.

"What manner of treasure did Iacon send us this time?" Megatron asked as he pointed the tip of the sword at Arcee's throat, "I would slice you in two right now, but I need you to deliver a message. Tell Optimus Prime that if he wants this relic, he must come and claim it himself." He then threw the relic down at Arcee's feet.

…

Back at the base, the Autobots had just gotten Arcee's message about Megatron and Smokescreen. Flareup took it harder than the others.

"No, that can't be true," she said sadly as she looked Arcee in the eye, "Autobots don't just vanish, so go back there and look for him!" Then Bulkhead moved forward and stood between her and Arcee.

"Easy, Flareup," the Wrecker said, "How would you feel if it were me or any of the rest of us that got hit by that blast?" Flareup just looked down and sighed. Bulkhead then looked up and readied his blaster, Bumblebee and Ironhide doing the same. "In the meantime, I say we go out there and kick Megatron's miserable metal hide!" Just then, Optimus spoke up.

"No," Optimus somberly said, "We have already lost another one of us today. I cannot afford to risk another Autobot life. Given what Arcee has witnessed, it would stand to reason that Megatron now possesses might to equal the Star Saber, which means I alone must recover the Omega Key."

"The fate of Cybertron rests upon its retrieval," Ratchet said.

"Whether Megatron knows it or not," Air Raid added.

…

Back in Egypt, Optimus Prime bridged into the ruins, where Megatron awaited his arrival.

"Claim your prize, Optimus," Megatron taunted, "If you can." Optimus looked down and noticed Megatron's new arm.

"By the AllSpark, Megatron," Optimus said in shock, "What have you done?"

"This?" Megatron asked as he lifted up his new arm, "I find that it affords me certain _advantages_, such as the use of the Forge of Solus Prime." Megatron then reached behind him and drew out his own sword. "My first creation, fashioned from the very blood of Unicron. I call it the Dark Star Saber, slayer of Primes if you will." With that, Megatron charged at Optimus and sent a crescent slash of dark energy at the Prime, who leapt over it with ease. Optimus made the next move by sending a crescent slash of his own, only for Megatron to cut it down with his sword. Megatron pulled the same move, only to get the same result. He then released yet another slash at Optimus, who leapt on top of a wall to avoid it. Optimus then leapt off the wall and proceeded to bring his sword down on Megatron, only for the Decepticon leader to block it. The two colliding energies created a swirling field around the two combatants, who continued to clash. Eventually, Megatron and Optimus found themselves locked in a power struggle.

"At last, we take our rightful places, Optimus," the Decepticon snarled, "As gods, wielding the power of the cosmos." After saying that, Megatron grabbed Optimus by the throat and slammed him into another wall.

"I am but a soldier, Megatron," Optimus grunted, "And you… are a prisoner of your own twisted delusions!" With that, Optimus gave Megatron a solid left hook to the face, causing the Decepticon to stumble backwards. Megatron recovered and made an uppercut slash, sending a vertical crescent of dark energy at Optimus, who barrel-rolled out of the way and launched a counterattack. The two foes clashed blades again, countering blow for blow, but then Megatron managed to sidestep a thrust from Prime and slashed downward, nicking Optimus' shoulder and leaving a deep cut in it.

"My Dark Star Saber has already tasted one Spark tonight, but it still thirsts for that of a Prime," Megatron rumbled as he raised his sword up high and gave another downward slash. Optimus got up and blocked it in time, but then Megatron stepped forward and rammed his shoulder into the Prime's face, disorienting him and making him stumble backward. As Optimus fell to the ground, Megatron moved in for the final move. Raising the sword up high again, Megatron brought it down hard. Optimus desperately tried to block it, but then the unthinkable happened: the Star Saber's blade shattered like glass on the hit. Optimus widened his eyes in shock and horror as his broken weapon fell to the ground and disintegrated before falling to his knees. Megatron placed his sword on the Prime's shoulder.

"And so it ends, just as I envisioned," Megatron said darkly, "With your head mounted next to my new trophy." But before Megatron could pull off the executing move, a voice rang out.

"Oh, you mean this?" Megatron and Optimus looked over to see Smokescreen standing by a ruin, holding the Omega Key in his hand. "Finder, keepers." While Megatron was distracted, Optimus quickly got up and began to grapple with his enemy, holding Megatron's weapon away and slashing him across the gut with what remained of his blade. Seeing an opportunity, Smokescreen dashed forward, the Phase Shifter mounted on his wrist activated and ready for use. Megatron sent a slash of dark energy at him, but the rookie evaded it with ease. While Optimus and Megatron continued their struggle, Smokescreen snuck around them and waited for an opening. Megatron eventually managed to throw Optimus off of him and sent another dark energy slash at him, but Smokescreen leapt forward and grabbed Optimus' arm, his Phase Shifter active, and the crescent of energy went right through them without even hurting them.

"Ratchet, Ground Bridge!" Optimus called out.

"NO!" Megatron roared angrily.

"Missed us," Smokescreen taunted as a Ground Bridge opened up behind them. Optimus and Smokescreen quickly began to run to the portal back to the base, but Megatron wouldn't have it. Letting out a cry of rage, Megatron gave pursuit of the two Autobots, sending another slash of energy at them. Before the energy could make contact, however, the Ground Bridge closed, leaving the crescent of energy to only hit a nearby sand dune. As the dust settled, Megatron began to laugh menacingly.

"Run Optimus, run," he said, "Those trinkets from Iacon will not save you. Not while I possess the power to **TEAR THIS WORLD APART!**" He then rose his sword up into the air, where the energy bolted and surged like dark purple lightning.

…

Back at the base, the other Autobots watched as Optimus walked through the Ground Bridge with what remained of the Star Saber in his hand. While Ratchet took Optimus off to the medical station, everyone gasped as they saw who else appeared behind him.

"Smokescreen?" Bulkhead asked in surprise.

"And Omega Key #1," the rookie said as he held up his prize. Before he could hand it to the other Autobots, Smokescreen suddenly felt an unknown force hit him and hold on. He looked down, and saw Flareup hugging him as tightly as she could.

"I can't believe you survived," she happily said as she looked up into his optics, "But how did you make it past Megatron?"

"That's a good question," Arcee said, "How did you survive Megatron's attack? I saw you get thrown into a wall of solid rock. No one could've survived that."

"I… kinda decided to borrow the Phase Shifter," Smokescreen answered. Ratchet, who was busy examining Optimus' wounds, overheard this.

"Again?" the medic inquired.

"And a good thing, too," Smokescreen said, "The wave from the blast hit me like a wrecking ball. The impact must've activated the shifter or something. I don't know how long I was out, but when I made my way back outside, were knee-deep in an epic throw-down. I had to wait for the right moment to make my move."

"And it's good you're learning," Arcee complimented. Smokescreen turned to Ratchet.

"So can I keep it?" the rookie asked, "I mean it _is_ really working out for me." Ratchet rolled his eyes in response.

"Fine, fine," Ratchet grumbled before turning back to Optimus.

"Yes! Signature weapon!" Smokescreen exclaimed before looking down and seeing the broken Star Saber. Ironhide, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Warpath walked up behind him.

"You may have gotten yours, kid," Ironhide said, "But Optimus lost his."

"Looks like that dang balance of power shifted again," Bulkhead added.

"While he may have wielded the power of the Ancients for only a day," everyone heard Ratchet say as he approached them, "Optimus does not require it to be the mightiest of warriors." Everyone looked over and saw Optimus standing over at the monitors, decrypting coordinates once again.

…

Later that day, Wheelie sat alone on the edge of the plateau that covered their base. After the way Arcee snapped at him, the youngling decided that the best thing he needed was alone time. As he stared out into the desert, Wheelie heard a voice coming out from behind him.

"Hey, kid," the unmistakable voice of Arcee said as Wheelie looked behind him to see the femme herself walk over and sit down next to him.

"What do you want?" the youngling snapped, "Here to make me feel even worse about myself?" What Arcee did next shocked Wheelie completely: she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and began rubbing it lightly.

"I actually came up to say that I'm sorry for how I acted earlier," the two-wheeler said calmly, "I had already lost two partners who I was close friends with over the course of the war. When you took Jack along with you to scout for the Star Saber and Jack got attacked, I thought I was going to lose him, too. I was scared and angry at the same time." She then pointed over to a pile of rocks behind them. "See that mound of rocks behind us?" Wheelie nodded. "Those rocks bury all that remains of my second partner, Cliffjumper. At first, I thought you were another rookie soldier who just joined the war, but now do I realize that you're still just a kid. And kids are going to make mistakes. I also now realize that holding a grudge won't help anything, so I can only hope that you can let go as I just did." Wheelie was completely stunned by Arcee's apology. No one had ever been so nice to him before. His answer to her speech left Arcee feeling both surprised and happy at the same time: Wheelie leaned over and wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her into a tight but caring hug. Arcee didn't know what do at first, but then she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders to return the hug. Once Wheelie let go, the two Autobots stared off into the desert together.

**Well, that ends another chapter. Before anyone starts asking, no I am not shipping Arcee and Wheelie. Those two will instead have a big sister-little brother relationship. Next chapter will be a filler, being Smokescreen-Flareup exclusive. Also, the clash between Optimus Prime and Megatron in Egypt was a pain to write, because I had to keep going back and forth between shots to try and get every last little detail right. But I'm still satisfied with the way it turned out. As always, read, enjoy, and review.**


	6. A Perfect Date

**Chapter 6: A Perfect "Date"**

The Autobot base was busier than ever before. Optimus stood at the control panels trying to decrypt the coordinates for the next Omega Key, Perceptor and Ratchet were trying to complete the formula for Synthetic Energon, Ironhide and Bulkhead were in the training room engaging in combat practice, and Air Raid and Fireflight were off on a scouting mission for Energon. It seemed like almost everyone had something to do or someplace to be, all except for Smokescreen. The rookie soldier was strolling down the corridors of the base when he came across the Hall of Relics. Jack had taken him down this hall before while he was giving him the tour of the base, and he had seen all these relics before in the Iacon Vaults, but he never really got to see them up close. Walking over to the first chamber he saw, he looked inside and saw the Polarity Gauntlet, a powerful relic that allowed the user to create and control magnetic fields. Arcee and Bulkhead had won this weapon in a prize fight against both their hated rivals, Airachnid and Breakdown. Smokescreen then walked over to the next relic chamber and looked inside. This one contained the Immobilizer, another deadly weapon that could shut down all joint and limb circuitry and leave the victim completely paralyzed, which Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead also managed to swipe from Airachnid.

_Better steer clear of a weapon like this one_, Smokescreen thought as he continued to walk down the hall. As he looked at each relic the Autobots found and recovered, including the recent recovery of the first Omega Key, Smokescreen couldn't help but feel like someone was in the same room with him. Turning around to see if anything was behind him, the rookie only saw an empty hallway. Shrugging and turning back around, Smokescreen got just about the fright of his life when he saw that someone was up in his face. Jumping into the air, falling on his back and activating his blaster, Smokescreen only saw Flareup standing in front of him, smiling like a kid.

"Chill out, Smoke," she teased, "It's just me." Smokescreen flushed with embarrassment as he got back up on his feet.

"Don't you know it's a bad idea to sneak up on a soldier like that?" Smokescreen asked, "I could've easily blasted your head off."

"Ah, but you didn't," Flareup slyly replied, "And besides, what's fun without a little risk? I'm also here because I have a question for you." Smokescreen cocked an eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I never really got to give you proper thanks for helping me recover from my injuries," the femme Wrecker replied, "So I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go for a day out with me." Smokescreen widened his eyes at first, but then grinned.

"Are you asking me on a 'date,' as humans call it?" he asked. Flareup smiled and shrugged.

"Maybe," she purred, "All depends if you can beat me in a race." Smokescreen beamed in response.

"Oh, bring it," he cockily replied, but then he realized something, "But didn't Optimus tell you to stay in the base?"

"That's only for missions," Flareup said, "Besides, my wounds are almost fully healed, which means that I can put the rubber to the road again. All we have to do is tell Optimus that we're simply going out on patrol." Smokescreen thought it over for a moment.

"Alright, let's do it," Smokescreen replied as the two Autobots left the Hall of Relics and headed for the main room.

…

In the main room of the Autobot base, the other Autobots were as busy as usual. Bulkhead and Ironhide were arm-wrestling, Ratchet and Perceptor were continuing their work on Synthetic Energon, Jazz and Sideswipe were listening to human music, and Optimus himself was continuing his work on decoding the next set of Iacon coordinates. Smokescreen and Flareup walked into the room and approached the leader of the Autobots.

"Optimus, I volunteer to take the next patrol," Smokescreen said as Optimus turned his head to see him, "And Flareup has recovered enough to drive on her own wheels, so I'd like to request her to be my partner on patrol." Optimus ran Smokescreen's request through his head before making his decision.

"Permission granted," the Prime answered, "But if any Decepticon signals appear in your area, you are to return to base immediately. Is that understood?"

"Fully, sir," Smokescreen replied. With that, Smokescreen and Flareup transformed into their vehicle forms and sped out of the base.

...

As Flareup and Smokescreen sped down the road in their vehicle forms, each one determined to beat the other in their race. After they sped down the road, Smokescreen was curious why Flareup really asked him to come out of base with her.

"Alright, you got me out here, now what?" Smokescreen asked.

"I don't know," Flareup said as the two Autobots rounded a corner. After a few more minutes of driving, Flareup sped behind a boulder and transformed, leaping up in the air and landing on top of the boulder. As Smokescreen watched, he felt the gears in his chest stop turning as he saw the curvaceous shape of his patrol partner. Flareup noticed this and cocked an eyebrow.

"Enjoying the show there, Smoke?" she teasingly asked. Smokescreen, who was still enchanted by her agility show, only half-heard her.

"Yeah," he half-whispered before he realized what she really meant, "Uh, I mean, um… whoa, that was a nice jump." Flareup chuckled lightly at her partner's loss at words.

"Who knew you'd be so easy, Smoke?" She teased again, causing Smokescreen to grin with embarrassment as Flareup leapt back down in front of him, transforming back into her motorcycle mode. "Bet your fancy car mode can't beat me in a race." With that, Flareup sped off and left Smokescreen in her dust.

"Oh it is _so_ on," Smokescreen laughed as he transformed into his car mode and bolted after Flareup. After a few seconds of chasing his partner, Smokescreen finally caught up to her and zoomed past her easily, the white McLaren race car leaving the fuchsia motorcycle in the dust. "Ha, looks like you lost this race," Smokescreen taunted as the two Autobots stopped at a parking stop at a fenced-off cliff. Taking a moment to transform and stretch their legs, Smokescreen walked over to the fence, stepped over it, and sat down on the edge of the cliff, Flareup walking over and joining him.

"This place is really beautiful," Flareup said as she and Smokescreen looked out into the desert, "It almost makes me not want to go back to Cybertron." Smokescreen looked over at her with a grin.

"Yeah, this place definitely has some cool places," the rookie said, "Sometimes I wish that Cybertron was beyond repair so I could see the rest of this planet. There's a lot of interesting things here." Flareup then scooted closer to Smokescreen and gently slid her hand over his, causing the rookie to tense up.

"I also asked you to come out here because I couldn't think of a better way to thank you for being there for me while I was on the medical berth recovering from my injuries," the femme Wrecker said as she looked Smokescreen in the eye, "I actually heard your voice when you spoke to me. And to tell you the truth, I do think you're kinda _cute_." This, along with Flareup intertwining her fingers with his own, caused Smokescreen's inner gears to turn awkwardly as he found himself holding Flareup's hand. After a moment of staring into each other's eyes, Smokescreen started rubbing the back of his head while looking out at the desert.

"Maybe it would be best if we started heading back to base," Smokescreen said, "The others may begin to wonder where we are." Flareup then got up and offered Smokescreen her hand, who graciously accepted it as the Wrecker helped him back on his feet. However, neither Autobot knew what was to happen on their way back to base.

…

A tan-and-purple MiG-25 fighter jet was soaring through the clouds, leaving a trail of exhaust fumes as it flew along. This jet, however, was no ordinary plane, as there were strange symbols on the faces of the wings. If anyone could recognize this plane, they would know that this was Blitzwing's flight mode, the Decepticon's other mode being a tank for ground travel. As a natural side effect of having wings and being capable of flight, Blitzwing naturally got bored and claustrophobic when he was kept pent up for too long. After quite a few pleas to Megatron to let him out and stretch his wings, the Decepticon leader finally gave thee Triple-changer permission to leave the warship and fly, as long as he gave report of anything that the Decepticons could use to gain an advantage over the Autobots. After several minutes of flying, Blitzwing's far-range scope began to pick up something moving below. Zooming in on the small dots underneath him, the Decepticon Triple-changer saw that it was a convoy of human military vehicles, one of them looking like the one that Swindle chose as his disguise, that was moving toward a human military base. Thinking that they might have something of use to Megatron, Blitzwing changed the mode on his scope from zoom to x-ray. After only a moment of searching, Blitzwing saw something large being held in one of the bunkers, prompting the Decepticon to take a closer look. After landing and transforming inside the base's tank lot, Blitzwing changed into his tank mode to roll next to the bunker. Once he was close enough to the bunker without making anyone suspicious, Blitzwing activated his x-ray scope again and zoomed into the bunker. What he saw inside surprised him greatly.

"Lord Megatron," Blitzwing muttered into his com-link, "I believe I have found somezing of great interest to you."

…

On the bridge of the _Nemesis_, Megatron, Dreadwing, Knock Out and Onslaught were standing at the monitors, listening to their comrade's call.

"What is it, Blitzwing?" Megatron inquired, believing that Blitzwing had found a powerful new weapon.

"_I am not sure, my liege, but I zink it looks like…_" Blitzwing replied before pausing.

"What did you find, Blitzwing?" Dreadwing asked as they heard their fellow Decepticon gasp in shock.

"_By ze AllSpark…_" Blitzwing half-whispered in response, "_It looks like ze body… of Optimus Prime, albeit human made. Zey got every detail exactly right, from ze optic frame to ze trans-cog to ze heel struts. I don't know how zey vere able to do zis, Master, but I don't zink any ordinary human vas capable of pulling zis off._" Hearing Blitzwing say "ordinary human" brought something to Megatron's mind, as he suddenly remembered something he heard someone say before. Then he spoke.

"Knock Out, go to your laboratory and find 'CYLAS,'" Megatron ordered, "I have something that I wish to… speak with him about." Knock Out bowed before turning to leave the bridge. "As for you, Blitzwing," Megatron said, "I want you to break into the facility and steal this copy. If a human was able to build something like that, it could be of great value to us."

"_At once, my liege,_" Blitzwing said before cutting off the transmission.

…

Back at the base, Smokescreen and Flareup had just returned from their "patrol." As soon as they rolled into the base, Ratchet walked over to them.

"Did you two spot any unusual activity in your patrol area?" the medic asked.

"None at all," Flareup replied. Upon hearing this, Ratchet put a finger under his chin as he pondered. If Megatron was remaining quiet for this long, he had to be up to something big. Before Ratchet could think on the subject any further, they heard a call ring out on one of the screens. Perceptor answered it, and a familiar angry voice shouted through it.

"_PRIME!_" the raging voice of Agent Fowler shouted as Optimus stopped his decoding and headed over to the transmission, "The 'Cons are at it again. I just received word that a military base in Utah is under attack by a Decepticon with two vehicle modes. Apparently this Con is stealing something from one of its bunkers." When the Autobots heard Fowler say that this mystery Decepticon had two vehicle modes, suspicions began to rise.

"What exactly does this 'Con turn into?" Jolt inquired.

"It looks like he's got mixed parts from a jet and a tank," Fowler replied. Flareup widened her eyes in response.

"I know who that Decepticon is," the femme Wrecker said as everyone looked at her, "It's Blitzwing. With all due respect, Optimus, I request permission to engage. I have a score to settle with this guy." Optimus pondered her request for a moment before answering.

"Very well, but be sure to take backup with you," Optimus answered, "Blitzwing is as unpredictable as he is dangerous." Smokescreen immediately shot his hand into the air.

"I'll go with Flareup," the rookie soldier said as he walked up to Flareup. Warpath also joined them.

"You're not the only one here who's got a score to settle," the Defender stated as he pounded his fist.

"Ratchet, set the Ground Bridge on Fowler's coordinates," Optimus commanded, and Ratchet immediately charged up the Ground Bridge. Smokescreen, Flareup and Warpath activated their weaponry and charged through the open portal. After they vanished and the Bridge closed, Arcee looked up at Optimus.

"Optimus, do you really think they can take Blitzwing by themselves?" the two-wheeler asked as the Prime looked down at her, "I've heard stories about that guy being able to take out entire warships from the inside and come out without a single scratch on him."

"While I am aware of Blitzwing's true power, I believe that he will exercise caution to not destroy whatever he is attempting to steal," Optimus replied.

…

Explosions rang out and soldiers were ducking out from various forms of cover to get a shot at the Decepticon that was raiding their base. As the smoke rose, something burst out from it, revealing Blitzwing himself, who was carrying the body of Optimus Prime's doppelganger over his shoulder. Blitzwing laughed as the humans' bullets bounced harmlessly off his armor like grains of sand, until one human got out a rocket launcher and fired, the incoming projectile slamming right into Blitzwing's chest and almost knocking him off balance. Knowing that Megatron would peel his paint if his prize was damaged in any way, Blitzwing angrily activated his wrist blaster on his right arm and fired a few shots in the direction of the rocket shot, destroying any possible hiding spots for any other humans with similar weapons. Just as Blitzwing was just about to call in a Ground Bridge, the sound of one opening drew his attention. Looking behind him, he saw a Ground Bridge standing behind him, but before he could try and walk through it, three Autobots ran through it and aimed their weapons at him. Blitzwing recognized two of them almost instantly.

"Flareup, it has been qvite a vhile, hasn't it?" Blitzwing taunted with a grin, "Und you brought Varpath vis you? Zis is so exciting; my two best friends in ze whole universe are here to play vis me again!" With that, Blitzwing cackled maniacally as he opened fire on Flareup, Warpath and Smokescreen, who took cover behind a destroyed plane.

"Uh, Flareup, how does this guy know you?" Smokescreen asked. Flareup simply cocked her flamethrowers.

"Long story, Smokey," she replied before leaning over to get a shot at Blitzwing, who sidestepped to avoid getting burned, all the while keeping the doppelganger balanced on his shoulder. Warpath looked over at Smokescreen completely confused.

"Smokey?" the Defender asked, only to get Smokescreen getting a slightly embarrassed grin on his face and him looking the other way as a response.

"Focus, Warpath," Flareup called as she and Smokescreen ran out to attack Blitzwing. Warpath simply shrugged and went out after them.

…

On the _Nemesis_, Megatron and his cohorts were standing in the bridge, patiently waiting for two things, the first being a Ground Bridge request from Blitzwing; the second being for Knock Out to bring "CYLAS" to them for questioning. Never did they expect that both would happen at the same time. Just as Knock Out brought the human-Decepticon cyborg to the bridge, Onslaught heard the com-link open up.

"_Blitzwing to base. I request an immediate Ground Bridge,_" Blitzwing said frantically as the sound of shots rang in the background, "_I have ze package vis me, but ze Autobots have arrived!_"

"Understood," Onslaught replied, "Soundwave, open a Ground Bridge, now!" The silent Decepticon nodded, and began tracing Blitzwing's coordinates.

…

While the Decepticons were getting a beat on Blitzwing's signal, said Decepticon was struggling between trying to carry a life-sized copy of Optimus Prime over his shoulder and fighting off the three Autobots who were attacking him. Smokescreen managed to get a few good shots at him, but Blitzwing shrugged off the attack and fired a blast from his wrist-mounted cannon, causing Smokescreen to take evasive action. During the time the attack was carried out, Warpath took the opportunity to try and take the Triple-changer by surprise. Charging over at Blitzwing with his fist drawn back, Warpath attempted to clobber Blitzwing, only for the Decepticon to hear him coming and intercept his attack, Catching Warpath's hand with his free one, Blitzwing threw his arm aside and kicked Warpath hard in the chest, slightly bending his cannon and sending him sailing back. Flareup made the next move by running forward and avoiding Blitzwing's shots before leaping up onto his chest and shooting him point-blank with her flamethrowers, causing great pain for the Decepticon. Grabbing her by her midsection with his free arm, Blitzwing ripped Flareup off his chest and threw toward a wall as hard and fast as he could. Smokescreen saw what was happening, and leaping between Flareup and the wall, the rookie Autobot caught her in his arms, but the force of the impact drove _him_ into the wall instead. As Smokescreen slid down the wall with Flareup in his arms, a Ground Bridge opened up next to Blitzwing. The Triple-changer snickered as he looked over at Warpath.

"Varpath, do me a favor und tell Flareup zat she vas lucky her little _boyfriend_ vas able to save her in time," Blitzwing teased, "Ozervise, she might've been permanently offlined." With that, Blitzwing ran through the portal as it closed behind him. Warpath looked behind him to see Flareup helping Smokescreen slowly rise to his feet. At first, he didn't know what Blitzwing meant by "boyfriend," but then he noticed the way Flareup was holding Smokescreen's hand. Deciding to tease them later, Warpath patched in his communicator.

"Warpath to base, requesting Ground Bridge," Warpath said, "Blitzwing got away with what he wanted to steal." As soon as he signed off, a Ground Bridge opened up in front of the Autobots, who walked through it back to base.

…

Back on the _Nemesis_, Blitzwing placed the doppelganger's body on the floor before Megatron, kneeling down after doing so. Megatron smiled menacingly.

"You've performed greatly, Blitzwing," Megatron purred as Blitzwing rose to his feet.

"Many thanks, Lord Megatron," Blitzwing said before turning away, "If you need me, I'll be in Knock Out's medical station."

"Understood," Megatron said as Blitzwing walked out of the room, "So… CYLAS, I trust that you know what this is?" The cyborg Decepticon looked down at the machine and widened his eyes.

"My weapon project," CYLAS half-whispered, "'Nemesis' Prime." He then looked over at Megatron. "How did you find this?"

"Blitzwing discovered it while he was on patrol," Megatron answered, "But my question for you is how did you manage to build this creation?"

"By examining the data we collected from the Decepticon whose body I now reside, my construction crew was able to build the copy of Optimus Prime that lays before you." Megatron looked back down at the copy and raised an eyebrow. "I even managed to overpower Optimus Prime himself with it." This really got Megatron's attention.

"Really?" he inquired. The nod from CYLAS was all the response he needed. "Knock Out, see to it that CYLAS gets placed in his new body, and be sure to remove him carefully." With a groan, Knock Out led CYLAS out of the room while Onslaught and Dreadwing carried the body of "Nemesis" Prime after them. All the while Megatron chuckled darkly to himself.

_Soon, Optimus,_ Megatron thought.

…

"Are you certain of this?" Optimus asked as Flareup and the others finished telling him about their skirmish with Blitzwing. Ratchet and the others had been listening as well.

"I'm positive, Optimus," Warpath said, "This thing that Blitzwing was carting off looked exactly like you."

"Looks like Blitzwing just came across it by extreme luck," Arcee said, "That knock-off Silas made was equal to Optimus on all levels."

"But how did a human manage to get every last detail on Optimus right?" Jazz asked.

"That story will have to wait," Optimus responded, "I must resume my decryption of the next Omega Key. If Nemesis Prime really is in the hands of the Decepticons, then I must work even faster to decode it." With that, Optimus returned to the monitors and continued deciphering coordinates.

…

Smokescreen and Flareup were walking down the hallway, talking about their experiences in the war and afterwards. Flareup was listening very intently as Smokescreen told her about how he came to Earth in a stasis pod, taking in every detail.

"So all you remember is seeing Optimus and the others engaging some Decepticons over the pod?" Flareup asked.

"Yeah, and since I was eager to blast some Decepticons, I joined in the fight. Afterwards they took me back to the base and told me everything that had happened while I was out," Smokescreen replied. Flareup then took Smokescreen's hand in hers the same way she did when they were at the cliff, causing Smokescreen's insides to feel weird again.

"You'll do Alpha Trion proud someday," Flareup said. Then she did something that neither Smokescreen or Warpath and Bulkhead, who were spying on them, expected: she reached up and kissed Smokescreen lightly on his cheek. As soon as her lips made contact with his face, Smokescreen's spark stopped. Flareup giggled at this and walked away. As soon as she was gone, Smokescreen placed his hand on the cheek he was kissed on and heard a noise behind him.

"Guys, I know you're right behind me. Come on out," the rookie called as Warpath and Bulkhead stepped out from behind the corner.

"Nice going, Smoke," Bulkhead cheered as he clapped Smokescreen on the shoulder.

"Thanks guys, but isn't it rude to spy on couples?" Smokescreen teased as Warpath anxiously rubbed his shoulder, "And besides, Ironhide told me about how you got all fired up over a femme named Moonracer when you were visiting a team on Dromedan IV." Bulkhead then began laughing heartily as he and Smokescreen walked off, a stuttering Warpath trying to think of something to fire back.

**Another chapter down! Yay! Before anyone starts asking in the reviews, the reason I decided to make CYLAS a part of the story was because I thought he was too cool a villain to simply kill off like he was on the show. I also decided to make him become Nemesis Prime based off something Miko said in the episode of the same name, where she said that she was hoping that Silas would be on the inside of the robot to control it. I also wanted to make Blitzwing the one to steal the body because I wanted to involve him in something, since he didn't get to go get the Omega Key with Megatron. Next time, Optimus Prime and a few others end up running into an old enemy. As always, read, enjoy and review.**


	7. Strange, Yet Familiar

**Chapter 7: Strange, yet Familiar**

Optimus Prime was decoding the Iacon coordinates as quickly as he could. After hearing what Warpath had just told him about their skirmish with Blitzwing, he had no time to waste in decrypting them. As he was busy decoding them, Jazz walked over to Arcee, who was taking in her daily dose of Energon. Curious to know more about CYLAS, Jazz tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey 'Cee, mind if I talk to you for a second?" Jazz asked as Arcee looked over at him.

"Sure. What do you need?" the femme replied as Jazz sat down next to her.

"I was just curious as to how exactly a human was capable of building an exact knock-off of Optimus and actually manage to get every part and detail right," Jazz specified. Arcee widened her optics at how serious her fellow Autobot was being as he said those words.

"That's a long story," Arcee replied, "It all started when CYLAS, back when he was completely human, and his team captured Breakdown and dissected him alive to learn more about our bio-tech. Bulkhead was able to break in and save him in time, but MECH, CYLAS' human organization, already had what it needed to know about Cybertronian biology."

"So that's how they were able to build a full-scale replica of Optimus?" Jazz asked.

"Not quite," Arcee answered before continuing her story, "MECH had every part it needed except for two things: a T-cog and Energon. They set up a decoy and activated it to lure us into a trap. Bumblebee was the unfortunate victim. While 'Bee was out, MECH went in and stole his T-cog, leaving him unable to transform. Also unfortunate, they formed an alliance with a rogue Starscream, who showed them how to mine and mill Energon." When Jazz heard Starscream's name, the Autobot gritted his dentures and clenched his fist. That sniveling coward would do anything to save his own Spark.

"So now Starscream's working with him? Man, I thought he couldn't sink any lower," Jazz quipped with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it," Arcee said, "Anyways, Bumblebee was so determined to get his T-cog back, he actually followed MECH back to their base and broke in, attempting to get his cog back. But Starscream was quicker and held it at blaster-point. Optimus, I and Bulkhead arrived and dealt with the agents outside, which in turn allowed Bumblebee to knock the cog out of Starscream's hands, but Starscream shot it before he could catch it. Bumblebee brought his damaged T-cog back to base, where Ratchet was able to repair and reinstall it."

"But if Bumblebee was able to take his cog back, how did MECH still be able to make the copy?" Jazz inquired.

"It's actually funny that you mention that," Arcee replied, "Right after Starscream escaped, MECH turned on him and ripped out his T-cog as a replacement, which they installed into the robot." With this, Jazz, along with Hot Rod and Sideswipe, who had been listening in as well, immediately began to break out laughing. Arcee laughed along with them, remembering how hilarious it was to her when she found out Starscream had lost his T-cog. Hot Rod laughing so hard that he could barely stand up.

"So you're telling me that Starscream, the Scourge of Megatron, lost his wings to a bunch of humans who needed to finish a science project?" Hot Rod playfully asked as he tried to regain his senses. Just as the four Autobots ceased laughing, Optimus gave out a call.

"Jazz, Bulkhead and Ironhide just returned from patrol duty," The Prime instructed, "I need you to take the next shift."

"On it, Prime," Jazz called back before turning around, "Arcee, Hot Rod and Sideswipe, you're rolling with me." With that, the four Autobots transformed into their vehicle forms and rolled out of the base.

…

In the laboratory of the _Nemesis_, Knock Out was begrudgingly putting the finishing touches on CYLAS' new body, groaning angrily to himself as he worked.

"Why did Blitzwing have to find this ridiculous copy of Optimus?" the medic muttered, "If it were up to me, this _human_ would've been dissected like the insect that he is. But instead Blitz has to find another good thing he accomplished, and Megatron just happens to change his mind about him." After welding the last finger digit back on, Knock Out walked over to the console next to the berth and switched off the stasis inducer. A moment later, CYLAS slowly inched his new eyes open, and the first thing he saw was Knock Out standing in front of him with a flashlight.

"Follow the light," Knock Out deadpanned as he moved the light to his left, prompting CYLAS to move his eyes to follow it. Knock Out repeated the process, but instead moving the light to his right, which CYLAS successfully imitated. Satisfied to know that his eyes were functional, Knock Out deactivated the energy cuffs, allowing CYLAS to move his arms freely. Taking an opportunity to get off the medical berth, CYLAS tried to standup and take a step forward, but suddenly felt his legs become extremely out of balance. Seeing that CYLAS was having a hard time finding his feet, Knock Out grabbed his electro-staff and gave it to the newly rebuilt cyborg.

"Here, use this until you can walk on your own," the medic said as CYLAS took the staff and held it next to him like a crutch.

"Thanks doctor," CYLAS replied as he slowly inched his way out of the lab, Knock Out walking behind him in case he started to fall backward. After a few minutes of using the staff as a cane, CYLAS felt his legs feel slightly stronger and balanced, so he gave the staff back to Knock Out and tried to walk on his own. To his relief, he didn't fall over this time. The two made their way to the bridge, where Megatron himself and his two commanders, Dreadwing and Onslaught, were waiting for him. CYLAS immediately bowed on one knee at the sight of Megatron.

"I'm grateful that you decided to change your mind, Lord Megatron," CYLAS said as he looked the Decepticon leader in the eye, "And know that I am willing to follow any order you issue, without question." Megatron grinned menacingly at this.

"Rise CYLAS, or I should say 'Nemesis' Prime," Megatron said as the newly christened Nemesis Prime rose to his feet, "You will make a fine addition to the Decepticons. Onslaught, take our guest to the flight deck and train with him. I want to make sure he is fit for combat." The Combaticon leader bowed and led Nemesis Prime out of the bridge. Knock Out glared after Nemesis Prime even after he was long gone.

"I still don't trust him, my liege," the medic complained, "What if he wanted to join us just so he could eliminate us?"

"Oh, I trust Nemesis Prime as far as I can blast him," Megatron replied, "But he shows a rare cunning that I find… _intriguing_." Knock Out rolled his eyes and walked back to his laboratory.

…

On the flight deck of the _Nemesis_, Onslaught and Nemesis Prime began their sparring bouts, the Combaticon growing increasingly impressed at how quickly Nemesis was catching on.

"I've gotta say, newbie, you're catching on with combat much quicker than anyone else I've ever seen," Onslaught complimented as Nemesis finished target practice.

"Well, I did receive training from human special tactics," Nemesis replied as he withdrew his guns and put up his fists, "It's the most intensive training by human military standards." Onslaught put up his fists as well and barreled over to Nemesis, throwing a right cross to his opponent, only for Nemesis to lean back and avoid it. Nemesis then dashed forward and gave a low sweep to Onslaught's legs, causing the Combaticon to trip and fall flat on his back. As Onslaught tried to get back up, Nemesis leaned down and offered him his hand, the Combaticon taking it and getting back up. Just before the two Decepticons could begin another round, Onslaught heard Megatron contact him over his com-link.

"Onslaught, Soundwave has detected several Autobot signals on radar," Megatron said, "I need you to see to it that they are eliminated." Just then Nemesis spoke up.

"If I may, Lord Megatron, I'm now completely in tune with my new body," Nemesis said over his own com-link, "I humbly request to see to the Autobots myself." To his surprise, Megatron instantly responded.

"Permission granted," Megatron replied, "Soundwave will set a Ground Bridge for you." A minute later, a Ground Bridge opened up in front of Nemesis, who walked through it without hesitation. After the vortex faded, Onslaught called Megatron back over his communicator.

"Are you sure it's wise to send our new recruit onto the battlefield, just after he got toned with his new body?" Onslaught inquired as he walked off the deck and into the ship.

"Yes Onslaught," Megatron replied, "I wish to see how Nemesis can handle combat against multiple opponents at once."

…

Jazz and his patrol team had driven past yet another rock formation as they scouted for any Decepticon activity or Energon spikes. For the past two hours, the four Autobots had been driving aimlessly and found nothing. Just as they were about to turn around and drive back to base, Hot Rod noticed something in his rear view. Zooming in on it, he saw what appeared to be a burgundy-colored semi-truck driving behind them.

"Hey guys," Hot Rod called out, "When did Optimus decide to come out and join us for patrol?" Confused by Hot Rod's question, Arcee looked in her own rear view mirrors and saw the same thing Hot Rod was seeing. Only when she took a closer look at the truck, she suddenly realized what it was.

"Hot Rod, that's not Optimus," she cried as she swerved off the road and transformed into a battle position. The truck suddenly stopped as well and, to the surprise of the other three Autobots, began to transform as well. Before Jazz knew it, he was looking at the very knock-off of Optimus Prime himself: Nemesis Prime. Quickly wanting to take any defensive action possible, he and the others transformed and stood beside Arcee, who glared at their new opponent.

"_Silas_," Arcee hissed, deploying her arm blades for battle. To her surprise, Nemesis only laughed in response.

"I don't go by that name anymore, Arcee," he said as he drew out his blasters, "I now go by the name 'Nemesis Prime.'" With that, Nemesis attacked, shooting at the Autobots as he ran forward. Jazz ducked out of the way and tried to give Nemesis a roundhouse kick to the side, only for him to block it and knock him aside with his own kick. While he was distracted, Sideswipe drew out his blades and swerved at Nemesis Prime. Nemesis saw the silver Autobot coming and stepped out of the way, causing Sideswipe's attack to miss. Seeing that his opponent liked to play with sharp objects, Nemesis drew out his own battle blades and looked over at Sideswipe.

"You're not the only one that is highly skilled at close-range combat," Nemesis said as he charged at Sideswipe. Sideswipe swung the blade on his right arm, aiming for Nemesis' leg, only to have Nemesis block it and knock it aside with his own blade. Nemesis retaliated by slashing his blade at Sideswipe's head, but the Autobot was able to duck the attack and strike back with a backflip kick to the chin, stunning Nemesis and giving Arcee an opening to attack with a punch to the gut. After regaining his balance, Nemesis drew his blasters again and fired a few shots at the four Autobots, only for Jazz to leap in front of them and deployed his EMP blaster, activating the shield around the barrel. The plasma bolts deflected off the shield and scattered in different directions. Irritated, Nemesis charged toward the four Autobots, avoiding blaster fire all the while, and knocked the shield aside with his blade. Arcee leapt over Jazz's head and tried to deliver a kick to Nemesis's chest, only for him to catch her and send her soaring into a rock nearby. Hot Rod aimed his wrist-mounted blasters at Nemesis, only for the false Prime to see him preparing to attack and kick him in the face.

_Two down, two to go_, Nemesis thought. Just then, the cyborg felt someone kick him in the small of his back, sending him toppling forward. Getting back up and turning around, he saw Jazz and Sideswipe standing shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to face their opponent together. "Do you honestly think you can take me on? You two are nothing compared to the skill of your leader, the one who can really give me a challenge," Nemesis taunted.

"Do you really think you can call yourself a Decepticon if you had to dissect one to learn our weaknesses, human?" Jazz taunted back.

"I am no human, Autobot. Not anymore, at least," Nemesis replied.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Sideswipe added, "Optimus squashed you like a Scraplet back when you _were_ a human." That drove Nemesis over the edge. Angrily drawing out his blades, he charged the two Autobots, who charged back, and went on the attack. Sideswipe tried to slash his body with his blades, only for the attack to be parried and receive a foot to his chest, sending the silver Autobot sailing into the same boulder Arcee was knocked into and rendered unconscious. Nemesis then made a dash for Jazz, only for the white mech to leap onto his shoulders and fire a few shots onto him. Angrily reaching up and grabbing Jazz, Nemesis slammed the lieutenant onto the ground and punched him in the head, finally subduing the warrior. Deciding to extend the fight, however, Nemesis knelt down and picked up Jazz's head, placing his finger on the unconscious soldier's communicator.

…

Back at the base, Ratchet and the others were still awaiting the return of Jazz's patrol team. Just as Ratchet was about to contact them on the console, the medic suddenly received a transmission on it. Clicking the answer button, Ratchet heard a voice that he never expected to hear.

"_Optimus Prime, I know you can hear me_," Nemesis Prime said over the communicator, "_I'm waiting here at these coordinates to settle an old score with you, and with an old toy that I'm sure you remember._" Having heard every word, Optimus approached Ratchet with a stern look on his face.

"Ratchet, set a Ground Bridge for the transmission coordinates," the Prime said, "I will face CYLAS alone." With that, the medic reluctantly set the coordinates and activated the Ground Bridge, which Optimus walked through.

…

Nemesis Prime began growing impatient as he awaited the approach of his rival. His patience, however, finally paid off when he saw a green vortex open up and a familiar Autobot walk out of it. "It's been quite a while, Optimus. Been keeping yourself in shape for our rematch?" Optimus looked over and saw the four other Autobots that Nemesis had defeated all laid on top of each other in a pile, his eyes widening in shock and anger.

"By the AllSpark, CYLAS, what have you done?" Optimus asked as he put on his battle-mask, drawing out his blades in the process.

"Those four were simply just a warm-up," Nemesis Prime replied, "And I don't go by that name anymore. Now I go by 'Nemesis Prime.'" With that, both Optimus and Nemesis Prime charged forward, clashing their blades and locking into a pushing contest. As Prime tried pushing Prime away, Optimus began to feel Nemesis gain a slight inch, which gave the doppelganger the advantage he needed. Nemesis lashed out and head-butted Optimus, stunning the real Prime and allowing Nemesis to punch him in the abdomen. While Optimus was stunned from the blow, Nemesis took the opportunity to step in for another attack, throwing a left hook that knocked his opponent off his feet. Quickly looking up, Optimus saw Nemesis raise his blade over his head, intending to kill him with it. Not about to let that happen, Optimus raised his own blade and blocked the blow, turning his other hand into a blaster and firing off a shot at the same time. The bolt hit Nemesis Prime in the gut and sent the doppelganger sailing back a bit.

"Why are you doing this, Nemesis Prime?" Optimus asked, "Why did you side with the Decepticons against the very planet you were born from?"

"There's a simple answer to that, Optimus," Nemesis calmly replied, "I have nothing left here. At least by serving Megatron I can be useful again." With that, Nemesis drew out his blades and ran over toward Optimus, who drew out his own blade, and the two warriors began to clash swords. Nemesis tried to launch a downward slash to his opponent's chest, only for Optimus to parry it and drive his knee into Nemesis's gut. With his opponent stunned, Optimus put up the blade in his left arm and put his hand back out, using his fist to deliver a left uppercut to his rival's chin, sending Nemesis falling onto his back.

"Then I am left with no other choice, CYLAS," Optimus said as he pinned Nemesis underfoot and raised his blade. Nemesis closed his eyes and waited for the coup, but it never came. Instead, he heard the familiar sound of a Ground Bridge opening up, and someone colliding with Optimus. The cyborg opened his eyes and saw Onslaught clashing with Optimus Prime. Optimus tried to punch the leader of the Combaticons in the chest, but Onslaught blocked the blow and drove his knee into Optimus' stomach, temporarily stunning the Prime. While Optimus was down, Onslaught ran over to Nemesis and helped him back up on his feet.

"Come on, let's move!" Onslaught said as he placed his hand on his communicator, "Soundwave, I have Nemesis, and I need a Ground Bridge now!" Almost instantly, another Ground Bridge opened behind them. Just as the two Decepticons were about to run through the portal, they heard Optimus groan and get back up on his feet. "Go, I'll cover you!" Onslaught ordered as Nemesis ran through the portal. Quickly taking one of the rocket launchers off his back, Onslaught pointed the weapon at Optimus and fired a shot at his feet, sending the Prime flying and kicked up a cloud of dust, which Onslaught used as a smokescreen and ran through the Ground Bridge. When Optimus got back up, his opponents were gone.

"Ratchet, prepare a Ground Bridge," Optimus instructed as he walked over to Jazz, who was just starting to regain consciousness. The moment Jazz saw the Prime's face, he immediately drew out his blaster and aimed it at him. Knowing that his friend was mistaking him for the imposter, Optimus cautiously stepped back and put up his hands.

"Ready to go another round, human?" Jazz taunted as he prepared to fire, when a voice on his communicator came on.

"_Jazz, that is the real Optimus_," Ratchet said over the com-link, "_CYLAS' signal disappeared only a moment ago, along with a second Decepticon signal_." With that, Jazz withdrew his blaster and looked up at Optimus, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry, Prime," Jazz sheepishly replied as he rubbed the back of his head, "I thought you were that human-in-Cybertronian-armor guy."

"No need for an apology Jazz," Optimus said as he placed a hand on his lieutenant's shoulder, "The other Autobots had a similar reaction when that double of me first made itself known." Just then, a Ground Bridge opened up. Optimus and Jazz quickly gathered Arcee, Sideswipe and Hot Rod before carrying their unconscious partners through the portal.

…

Back on the _Nemesis_, Nemesis Prime and Onslaught walked into the bridge of the ship, where Megatron and Dreadwing were waiting. At first, Nemesis expected Megatron to praise him for being able to defeat four Autobots at once, but got the shock of his life when Megatron instead smacked him silly with his left arm.

"You tried engaging Optimus Prime alone?!" the tyrant shouted as he grabbed Nemesis by his throat and held him up to his face, "Do you have even the slightest idea about the consequences of your arrogant mistake?!" Nemesis knew that he had to come up with something, or he'd end up back in Knock Out's lab.

"I-I only thought that I could m-match my skills in combat against the v-very one I based this design off of," Nemesis stuttered, trying his best not to panic as the warlord's ruby eyes bored into his amber ones, drilling a glare into his very soul. Suddenly, Nemesis felt Megatron loosen his grip on his neck, and the Decepticon leader lowered his arm. "How did you know I tried engaging Optimus Prime?"

"After you went through the Ground Bridge to engage those four Autobots, I ordered Soundwave to deploy Laserbeak and bridge him to your very coordinates and monitor your every move," Megatron replied as he gestured over to the drone on his communications officer's chest, "But Laserbeak is not just competent at watching, he can also listen quite efficiently. We heard you challenge Optimus Prime, and when he was about to terminate you, I sent Onslaught to your rescue." Nemesis looked over at Soundwave in shock and awe. Megatron continued his speech. "Now apart from that, I wanted to stop Optimus from scrapping you because you possess all of his physical attributes. You are his very equal. As such, I will see to your combat training from here on, but I assure you, it will be the most rigorous course of training you will have ever gone through."

"I understand, Lord Megatron," Nemesis said, silently sighing in gratitude that Megatron was feeling merciful.

"Then come with me, we shall get started right now," Megatron said as he walked out of the bridge and began heading to the training room, Nemesis following closely behind.

…

In the Autobot base, Ratchet was busy tending to the injuries that Optimus and the others received in the battle against Nemesis Prime. Fortunately, no one had any serious injuries, although Hot Rod had a large dent in the brow of his helm where Nemesis kicked him.

"Well Optimus, I honestly expected worse coming from your lookalike, but you and the others came out relatively unscathed," Ratchet said as he finished patching everyone up.

"Speak for yourself," Hot Rod snapped, "I have a processor-ache like you wouldn't believe."

"Well what would you expect from getting kicked in the face?" Smokescreen joked as he and Air Raid laughed, Hot Rod glaring at them the whole time. As soon as he got off of the berth, Optimus continued his coordinate decrypting.

"I am nearly finished decoding the next set of Iacon coordinates," Optimus said as he dialed the keys on the pad, "Be prepared to move out when I have finished it." The other Autobots nodded as their leader typed away.

…

**Another chapter down. This chapter took a while for me to write, mainly due to trying to balance both college and work. I also had a bit of fun writing this chapter because I like writing original fight scenes as opposed to basing one off of an existing battle. Next chapter, the race for the Omega Keys continues, as Knock Out gains the power to manipulate deadly sonic waves, while Starscream gains the power of hyper-speed. As always, read, enjoy, and review.**


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